Eddie's Past, An Outlast: Whistleblower Fan Fiction
by TheUnicornGirl
Summary: Before he became "The Groom", the misogynistic Variant in Mount Massive of Outlast's DLC, Eddie Gluskin was just a traumatized guy with an abusive and tragic past.
1. Chapter 1 - Monsters

Chapter 1

2003

The sun shone past the damaged blinds that barely covered his windows, hitting Eddie right in the face with a ray of sunlight, waking him up. His room was no bigger than a shoe closet, and when he stretched, his fists and toes were already pushing the walls. He felt the urge to yawn loudly, but he could hear his dad's snoring right next to the thin dry wall and simply got out of bed as quiet as he could. He winced at the pain on his back from the thrashing his dad gave him a night before after he couldn't fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen.

Grabbing the nearest shirt he could find, Eddie looked at the mirror, hopelessly trying to flatten his jet black hair and scratching away the dirt near his blue eyes. At twenty, Eddie looked hopelessly older—whether or not it was because of the stress of living with his father he couldn't be too sure. Sighing, he headed out of his room, looking at the clock that pointed ten minutes to eight.

Not wasting any time, he darted down the stairs to the house's small kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out four eggs and a pack of defrosted bacon, and then systematically reaching overhead for a pan, setting it on top of the stove. He pulled out a tray, placing a plate over it. On the fridge door was a list he had to follow, but after doing this for years, Eddie didn't need to look over it anymore and opened his mother's medicine box, taking out a blue and red capsule, as well as an orange tablet, placing it on the rim of the plate.

He placed four slices of toast into the over toaster before he began frying the bacon, and then placed them all on a platter when they popped out, adding two more for himself. By the time the bacon and eggs were cooked, he placed two slices of toast, an egg, and several strips of bacon on the tray, careful not to let the heat touch the medicine. He got out some utensils and threw them on the tray when he saw he only had two minutes. He fixed the rest of the food onto the dining table, setting one plate on the table, before carrying the tray upstairs to the room across his, not bothering to knock.

"Mother, breakfast," Eddie couldn't remember the last time she had spoken to him, but she heard him groan, which was good enough for him. He looked at his frail, sick mother, wishing he knew what it was she was suffering from, but he didn't think a degree in nursing would make him qualified to diagnose whatever it was. She could still move, but apart from that, she did not have enough energy to get out of bed or talk, and reserved that energy for going to the bathroom and weakly switching channels on the TV. He set her breakfast on a revolving table, and walked out.

Outside his mother's room, he heard a clanking of plates.

He tried not to seem scared as he passed the dining room, avoiding his father's gaze. His father was the only one working a nine-to-five job, and was always having breakfast by eight so he could leave by eight-fifteen. By the time Eddie returned, his father was finishing up his plate.

"You gave your mom yet?" He grunted as he sliced up a piece of bacon. Eddie nodded and continued into the kitchen, not daring to go back out. Only when he heard the chair screech did he walk hurriedly past his father and out the door, not daring to keep his father waiting.

Eddie practically sprinted outside to the gate, not noticing the moving truck across their house. He unbolted the fence gate, clearing the driveway for his father's car. After a few seconds, his father came out, briefcase in hand, and hurriedly unlocked his car and threw his briefcase at the passenger's seat.

"Eddie," His father beckoned him, and Eddie was quick to approach. He added in a menacing whisper, "That sink better be fixed by the time I get back."

Eddie gulped, and meekly nodded as his father subtly placed a hand on Eddie's pants, looking around as he brought it down slightly. He knew his father was careful not to let anyone know—except for his friends that _did _know and _did _enjoy taking turns on him—but he saw the moving truck moving, unblocking the view of the new family, and withdrew his hand.

"See you later, _son_." His father sneered as he entered the car, started it, and drove away.

As if for the first time, Eddie looked across his house to the new family. Apart from the three men in uniform unloading the truck, there was a family of three unloading smaller boxes from their SUV. A middle-aged woman carried probably the smallest box to the porch, dropped it by the side of the door, and began ordering around the three men in uniform. The middle-aged man—most likely her husband—unloaded the boxes from the car onto the lawn, grabbing the attention of one uniformed man, and Eddie heard him requesting the man to pick it up later. But when Eddie looked at the third member, he instantly felt smitten by the girl.

She was pretty, but the way she smiled excitedly at her new home was what made Eddie riveted by this girl. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. He wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to be attracted or jealous of this girl's happiness. As he closed the gate, not taking his eyes of the girl as she unhooked a bicycle off the bike rack and brought it in the garage, he heard a honk coming from their house, and he turned to see the father's hand on the horn.

"Hello there, neighbor!" The man waved him over. Eddie glanced at his house and then bolted the gate and proceeded to cross the street. The man left the side of his car to the fence of his house, extending an arm out to shake Eddie's hand before Eddie could even stop walking. "Charles Dalton."

"Good morning, Mr. Dalton," said Eddie. "I'm Eddie—Eddie Gluskin."

"And that's my wife, Tricia." Mr. Dalton pointed at the woman by the porch ordering the movers around. He peered at Eddie through his thick glasses. "How old are you, Eddie?"

"Twenty, sir."

"Twenty?" Mr. Dalton raised an eyebrow. "Well—good news, my daughter's eighteen and you look like a good, strapping young m—"

"DAD!" The girl appeared from behind the SUV, looking bewildered. She walked to the fence, talked hotly. "Honestly, we've been here for five minutes and—"

"Only joking, only joking dear," Mr. Dalton said calmly. "I'll go to your mother before she turns the movers into slave laborers." He turned to Eddie. "Good to meet you, dear boy."

And he walked to the porch, leaving Eddie with the girl in awkward silence.

"So…" Eddie tried to begin a conversation, but was too tounge-tied.

"Sorry about my dad," She said apologetically. "He's been on my case a lot about not having a boyfriend yet after eighteen years." She was looking at him now, smiling as she gazed into his blue eyes as he gazed into her brown eyes.

"He seems like a nice guy." Said Eddie, trying to make a conversation now. "I wouldn't take it too hard."

"I won't," She promised him. She turned to look at the boxes still at the truck. "I guess I better help them with my things. It was nice meeting a new face here."

"I better get back too, my mom might wonder where I went." Eddie lied shyly, sticking out his hand. "Welcome to the neighborhood—I'm Eddie Gluskin."

The girl's heart-shaped face lit up, smiling warmly, and Eddie couldn't help but feel more head-over-heels for this girl. She took his hand and shook it, her skin smooth as silk. "Mara Dalton. Nice to meet you, Eddie."


	2. Chapter 2 - Fighting Back

Chapter 2

2006 – Three Years Later

"A job offer?" Eddie asked dubiously. "For real?"

"Working at a private hospital has a significantly bigger pay for starting nurses, but they'll want their money's worth as soon as possible." Dean Winthrop pointed out. "St. Mary's did give you top marks during your internship, and are quite keen on taking you back as a full-time nurse there. So what do you say, Gluskin?"

Half a year ago, Eddie took an unpaid internship in a private hospital in the city, St. Mary's Hospital. Ever since he set foot in the hospital, he had admired how modern the hospital was, how everything seemed well and fit for the upper-middle and upper classes that inhabited the hospital. He had done his best to give a good impression on the administrative staff, and performed well especially in the Pediatrics Ward and in every operation he partook in. That was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I'll take it," Eddie nearly shouted, but managed to control himself in front of the Dean. "Sir."

"Good." Dean Winthrop handed him a slip of paper pushed a button on his intercom. "Hanna, please call Dr. Stewart back, tell him that Gluskin accepted the offer."

"Yes, Dr. Winthrop." Hanna, his secretary, replied through the phone.

"I expect good things from you in the future, Mr. Gluskin." Dean Winthrop stood up, prompting Eddie to do the same. "_Good _things. You'll have to attend an interview with Dr. Stewart—details are on the paper."

"I'll do my best to bring this school honor, sir." Eddie shook the Dean's hand before striding out. He had no idea how much this job meant to Eddie. He looked at the paper and saw that the interview was in two days. He knew that if it went right—according to his plan—he would be able to leave his father's house on the same day. He counted on the fact that Dr. Stewart was impressed with his work, and silently prayed that things would go well— as they rarely had his whole life.

"YOU'RE WHAT?" Mr. Gluskin screamed at his son as he began loading another box of his belongings into a car.

"You heard me," Eddie said with as much courage as he could muster. _Don't be afraid of him anymore. _"I'm leaving, father."

"And where the fuck do you think you're going?" He growled, walking behind his son as he walked towards the door.

"The hospital gave me a loan for an apartment," Eddie said matter-of-factly. "I'll still get a salary, but it'll be less until I pay off what I owe."

"Leaving me with that bed-ridden cow?" Mr. Gluskin yelled, for the first time not caring about upholding a "Happy Family" façade in front of the neighbors. "The deal was that you become a nurse so you could look after her better. Is this the thanks I get for raising your ungrateful ass?"

"No," Eddie whispered coldly, surprised at his sudden courage as he dropped the box with a heavy thud. "This is what you get for being a rapist, molester, and pimp of a father and for every slap, hit, and shove you have given me for twenty-three years. As for mother—well, if you can afford an orgy party at least once a month, you can bloody well afford to hire a professional caregiver."

Eddie couldn't help but feel electric over the venomous way he spoke, but locked cold, furious eyes at his father, who sneered. "You have no proof of anything."

"I don't need fucking proof." Eddie said in a deadly quiet voice. "I can't change or forget what you've done. I can't cut that vulgar cock of yours off and send it to the police as evidence. But I can make sure you will never hurt me again, and I assure you, if you try and touch me again, I won't hesitate to fight back."

For a second, Eddie felt triumphant as he saw the fear and shock in his father's face for a second, which then turned back into rage.

"Then leave," He growled. "I have no son."

"You don't." Eddie said firmly, shutting the trunk. He still had two boxes in his room filled with his belongings, but he didn't dare go back in the house. He assured himself that it didn't matter—he was free, and he would have more things of his own now that he was literally on his own. He immediately didn't regret his decision as he saw his father walk back to the house, but instead of entering, just stood by the door frame. _He knows I want to go back in—well, I won't give him the satisfaction. _He made sure his trunk was closed properly before hopping into his car to start it. Fighting the urge not to floor the gas pedal, he drove away from the house, not bothering to look back and see his father watching him until he turned at the corner.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Proposal

**Author's Note: While doing some research on Gluskin, I saw on the page that he's 46 by the time he dies. I'm really sorry but in my fanfic, by the time he makes it to the 2014 events in Outlast: Whistleblower, he's only about 31 or 32. Also, some of you might think that Eddie's character at the beginning is too weak, but I can assure you that everything will lead to the cannon events on Outlast: Whistleblower. However, it won't reach the part where he turns into a monster and ends up dying in his room of dead brides. Thank you for reading! **

Chapter 3

Eddie tried peering into the window of the restaurant and found her sitting alone in one of the private tables with couches by the wall. _Perfect. _He entered, surprising her by planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hello, Darling."

He put the rose he carried in the tiny flower vase on the table, squeezing her hand lightly as he scooted beside her. She looked at him, rolling her eyes in mock frustration. "Why do you always insist on calling me 'Darling'?"

"Because you _are _the darling of my life, Mara." He held both of her hands with his, holding tightly. "And I can find no other way to let you know just how much I love you more and more every single day…and so I shall annoy you with cheesy pet names for the rest of our lives."

"Happy second anniversary," She replied, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I love you too."

Eddie's heart still beat faster every time he heard her say it. He would have kissed her on the lips, but she was just as nervous of intimate contact as he was that it took six months before he could hold her hand for a long time and a year before he could even kiss her on the cheek. Lately, however, he had felt the urge to take it to the next step with her—and he was extremely nervous, wondering what she would do if he did it and she wasn't ready.

"I should have picked you up for dinner," Eddie said apologetically. "Your dad must be upset with me for driving you here."

"Oh no, he's fine," Mara assured him quickly. "He's with mom, watching a movie nearby. After what he saw with your dad the other day, he didn't mind making sure you never saw that monster again."

He looked at her. "Does your father know about…?"

"No, I'll never tell anyone your secret." She said firmly, squirming closer to him as she can get.

"Do you think I should…?"

"Personally, I think not." She said honestly. "You moved out of your father's house to start a new life. Your uncle's dead—"

"Thank God," Eddie muttered.

"—and you don't want to charge your father since you don't have evidence…and it's been years since your father last touched you. I think just moving on will do—forget about him, Eddie. You have your whole life ahead of you to let him affect you."

"And as long as I'm around," Eddie wrapped an arm around Mara, and when she didn't seem to mind, hugged her. "Nothing bad is ever going to happen to you…darling."

She elbowed him lightly in the ribs as he chuckled, and he let go of her. He looked at her and sighed, still slightly amazed and head-over-heels madly in love with Mara Dalton. In the last three years, Eddie had managed to win his next-door neighbor's heart despite all the odds. On the weekdays, because his father refused to let him get a dorm in the city, Eddie spent his early mornings and evenings commuting to the city, studying to become a nurse, and then making it back before his father did. On Sundays, his father was always home and went berserk when Eddie spent more than two hours studying, let alone out of the house to talk to the pretty new neighbor. That only left Saturdays to talk to Mara, and she wasn't always at home to talk to. And then one Saturday, Eddie managed enough courage to ask Mara out on a date, and she accepted.

Two months after dating casually, Eddie let her in the house one Saturday to meet his mom. It was on that day that Mara found out the truth of what a monster Eddie's father was, as well as Eddie's Uncle, who was stabbed to death in prison for being a pedophile. She was the only one Eddie shared the secret with, and the way she didn't find him revolting or disgusting for still enduring living with his father, as well as the way she helped him find the courage to stand up to his father every now and then, only made him love her more. It was as though his secret made her understand him better, and within two years she became not only his girlfriend, but also his best friend.

And for the past few days, Eddie knew he wanted to spend that "rest of his life" with her.

After they ordered from the waiter, he turned to her once more. "Aren't you going to ask how I could afford an apartment in the city?"

"How?" She asked, replying to her father's text message.

"I got a job offer," He said proudly. "Can you guess where?"

"Oh I don't know," She put down the phone and pretended to think. "A hospital?"

"Not just any hospital, darling— St. Mary's."

Mara looked surprised, and was beaming. "Holy—wow, really, St. Mary's? That's amazing Eddie, I'm so proud of you."

"I just got the job a week ago, I'll start next month when they're done with the applicants."

"So you didn't apply?" She asked, amazed. "They just really wanted you?"

"Yeah, actually," He said proudly. "They loved me during the internship, and they want me to work for them."

"Well they don't love you as much as I do," She kissed him. "Congratulations, love."

"There's something else." He said nervously, subtly reaching in his pocket. "The apartment I got is pretty big. It's got two bedrooms—but I don't think it should really matter. I want you…to live with me."

He opened the small, black box, revealing a modest ring inside. "…as my wife."

Mara placed a hand in front of her opened mouth, too stunned to speak. Without thinking, Eddie drew the ring from its cushion and slipped it around her finger before he even realized what he's done. "Oh shit—I'm sorry I forgot you had to answer f—"

"Yes, oh my god," She said, fighting back the tears. "Yes, I'll marry you. Oh my god, I love you, Eddie, it's beautiful!"

"We'll get married after you finish college, and then we'll live together, is that alright?" She nodded. Eddie looked lovingly at his new fiancé, leaning forward and planting a kiss on her lips. She returned his kiss, and he pulled her closer, not wanting to ever let her go. "I love you, darling." He muttered under his lips.

Eddie couldn't remember when he gave up on a happy ending like this, but it was certainly around when he was twelve, after his uncle got arrested for creating child porn but his father still abused him plenty of times. He knew he would never find love, because his father ruined the notion of love and physical intimacy before Eddie even knew what it meant. But Mara wasn't his father, she was sweet and innocent and a sign for Eddie that there was hope for him that he could—would—be happy with her. She was the girl Eddie used to dream of—the perfect, traditional type of girl to come home to after a long day at work, and still find the energy just to be with her. As they parted their lips, Eddie gazed into Mara's dark brown eyes, and for an instant, he saw a future with her and their future children and he knew that—for the first time in his life—he would be totally happy and safe.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Wedding

Chapter 4

2007 – One Year Later

"Do you, Marianna Catherine Dalton, take this man, Eddie Gluskin, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" The priest boomed loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I do," Mara replied. She glanced at Eddie and smiled enthusiastically. Eddie glanced at her, taking in how beautiful she looked.

"And do you, Eddie Gluskin, take Marianna Catherine Dalton, to be—"

"I do," Eddie cut him off, igniting laughter throughout the church and the priest.

"Excited for the post-wedding activities, are we?" The priest asked curiously, making the audience laugh more. Eddie looked at the packed church, not at all affected that only a handful of them were his guests, none of which had any relation to him other than being his friends in college and co-workers in St. Mary's. The rest were his bride's friends and family, though he was happy to welcome them all, but the wedding planner didn't use the traditional way of separating the bride's guests from the grooms guests to make it even. "Then by all means, by the power invested in me by the Holy Spirit, I now declare you husband and wife."

Eddie turned to Mara, lifting the veil from her face. "You look absolutely beautiful, darling." He leaned forward as they kissed in front of the altar. The visitors clapped and cheered so loud that what the priest said next was drowned out that he dejectedly sighed and smiled as he shrugged at them, motioning for them to walk back down the aisle.

"We have our forever now, Mrs. Gluskin." He leaned toward her, kissing her on the cheek.

"Forever and ever and ever," She giggled. "And I'll be yours for that long."

They reached the giant arch and exited the church, followed by friends and family. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, despite being on the front row, were the first to reach them.

"Oh my baby girl, you look so radiant," Her mother wailed through the tears and ruined mascara. She had made a commotion of herself by loudly crying when Eddie stopped the ceremony just to recite a speech he made for her the night he proposed a year ago, before he went to sleep, and Candice, the wedding planner, had to bring her a fan and a bottle of water in case she fainted. She turned to Eddie, placing her motherly hands on his face. "And I have a son now…please call me 'mom' now dear, you're my family now! What a lovely speech!"

"There he is, my son-in-law!" Mara's father approached, wrapping a soothing arm around his wife, patting her. After four years, he had graying hair and started wearing thicker glasses. He patted Eddie on the back a bit hard. Mara's mother left to go back to her daughter, who was pulled away by her bridesmaids to one side. "I should tell you now that, well, you married my daughter—don't expect an easy day for the rest of your life!"

Mr. Dalton hooted at his own joke and Eddie laughed with him. "But seriously, Eddie, my daughter can be a handful. Did I ever tell you that you were the first—and well, only—boyfriend she's ever had?"

"The day we met, sir." Eddie said respectfully.

"There's no room for 'sir' in the family—call me 'dad'." He said firmly. "But yes, at times, Mara has dreams in life, and I know you're just the guy that complements her crazy. Married life is not about perfection—it's about complements. My advice as a father is this: don't expect a perfect life without fights, but expect that you and her will be there for each other at the end of the day."

Eddie couldn't help but smile. He looked at his new father, and then at Mara, who was looking at him too and waved before her friends pulled her in for a photo. He couldn't remember ever fighting with Mara—though they didn't agree on many things, they always managed to get past those issues. He looked at his "mom"—she had gray hairs as well, and based on the old photos Mara once showed him, gained quite a lot of weight since the sixties. _Would Mara and I be as happy as they are in the future?_

"As for your father…" Mr. Dalton said nervously.

"I didn't send him an invitation." Eddie said flatly. "Figured he didn't want to attend the wedding of a stranger and his bride."

"Yes, well," Mr. Dalton's lips curled into a smile. "With the riff-raff he brings over to your house ever since your mother died—hell, even before the funeral services came he was already bringing those scarlet women in—I'd say you'll be better off without him."

Mr. Dalton patted him on the back once more and gave him a hug before joining his daughter and her friends. Eddie heard Mrs. Dalton boasting to a group of middle-aged women—probably her sisters—how Mara had graduated and has earned her license to teach just a month ago, as well as the fact that Eddie was a high-paid nurse in a private hospital. He fought back a guffaw as his college friends and college friends and colleagues came over to congratulate him, and the photographer took snapshots of them.

After a while, Candice managed to round up the photographers, and prepared for the photo shoot of the new couple and the guests. The first were a few shots of the couple alone in front of the church, followed by the family shot with Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, and then so on. After that, the party was lead to the multi-purpose room behind the church, where the wedding party would be held. Eddie, Mara, Mara's parents, Eddie's best man, his best friend Peter, who was a co-worker in St. Mary's, and all the bridesmaids sat in front on a platform, but Eddie and Mara were seated on a platform that was slightly higher than those on their sides.

For Eddie, the party was a blur. He and Mara had spent half a year planning it, but he couldn't remember all the details of it. He couldn't remember how good the food tasted, or the floral arrangements in the tables, or the color scheme on the guest tables. All he knew for sure was that Peter was his usual joking self during his speech, Mrs. Dalton was in tears half the time, and he knew that a big part of the photographer's shots would be candid moments of him and Mara stealing kisses when people weren't looking at them.

"Darling," he entwined his fingers with hers under the table as his father-in-law gave his second speech to thank the guests for being there. "You know I love you, right?"

"Really?" She asked as though she didn't know, and then laughed, kissing him on the cheek. "If I had a nickel every time you told me that…"

He held her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you, and I'm just so happy I get to say it every time and wake up next to you for the rest of my life. And did I forget to mention how beautiful you looked?"

They were so distracted with each other that they didn't hear what the MC was saying until the spotlight shone on them. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do, until Peter leaned towards his best friend.

"Couple's first dance," Peter whispered. "You're welcome, Ed."

Eddie stood up, his hand still locked with Mara's. They made their way to the dance floor, the spotlight still on them. "I'm truly sorry if you get a foot injury in the next ten minutes."

Mara grinned, shyly not looking at the crowd. Neither of them knew what song to pick, and got Mara's mother and her friends to choose the song. As the band started playing a slow melody, Eddie figured Mara's mother might have forced her song to be the first. He carefully lead the dance, and saw the male singer began to sing.

_When I was a boy my mother often said to me_

_Get married boy and see how happy you will be…_

"Do you think your mom picked out this song?" He asked, amused.

"If Gabby, Leila, Quinn, or Sophie picked the first song, we'd be dancing to _Chasing Cars _or _Keep Holding On_ or something done this year," She laughed. "Nope, mom used to play this around the house, said it reminded her of her home in Colorado—they broadcast it lots of times on one of the radio stations."

_I have looked all over, but no girlie can I find,_

_Who seems to be just like the little girl I have in mind,_

_I will have to look around until the right one I have found._

_I want a girl, just like the girl that married dear old Dad_

_She was a pearl and the only girl that Daddy ever had,_

_A good old fashioned girl with heart so true,_

_One who loves nobody else but you…_

"It's lovely, darling," He began to like the song. "It has a really catchy tune, and the lyrics kind of remind me of you."

"In what way?" She asked.

"Not the 'just like married dear old Dad' part, you're absolutely nothing like my mother." He assured her. "You're my good old fashioned girl, the type of girl I've always dreamed of—oh, sorry."

He had stepped on her foot, and she grimaced in order to stop yelling. "It's fine, though I'd like to see my reaction when the videographer sends our wedding tapes." Eddie laughed, and enjoyed the rest of the song without stepping on Mara's feet. The next few songs, Mara got right, as they danced to a duet of _Keep Holding On_, followed by a bunch of Celine Dion's famous love songs, and then a mixture of new love songs. After the second song, others were allowed to dance on the floor as well, but everyone gave the couple their space as they danced through the night.

As the party drew to a close, Eddie couldn't help but look around after he gave another heart-warming speech not only to Mara, but to the guests for being there—and he meant every word. His wife adored him, his in-laws loved him, and all of Mara's girl friends were rooting for him. Peter and his friends knew the hectic schedule of a nurse, and knew how much he meant to them with the fact that they stayed at the party until eleven at night. He was also happy in his career—even if he wanted to be a writer in the first place, the fact that Mara loved his poetry was enough for him. He realized, that, for once, he was truly happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Mara?" Eddie called out, finding her on the balcony of their hotel room in a white slip nightgown that showed off the shape of her slender but curved body. Ever since he proposed, Mara was no longer afraid of physical contact, and he placed an arm around her that lowered all the way to her waist. "Are you nervous?"

"Kind of," She said quietly, staring out into the bright lights of Los Angeles. Because of Eddie's hectic schedule he only had a week to enjoy a honeymoon with Mara, and her parents were nice enough to sponsor a VIP stay in Hotel Bel-Air for a week. They had an amazing view of the city. "Eddie, I don't want to have kids."

Eddie stopped, and for a moment, it sounded like his heart had shattered. Another reason he loved Mara so much was that they had always talked about starting a family together. Even Mrs. Dalton wanted blue-eyed, brown-haired grandchildren, and before they were married, Mara had always talked about what names they would give their children.

Eddie heard her speaking again. "I mean—I _want _ children, but I don't want them _now_."

"B-b-but…but darling, we've always talked about…" Eddie stammered. "You know I wanted a family…"

"Darling, please hear me out first," She said politely, and he nodded. "I want to have a family with you as soon as possible but…you know I worked in a daycare before I got my license, right? If you've seen the children I've had to take care of, you'd think twice about starting a family at this time too.

"Their parents are so busy trying to work for a future for their kids that they end up leaving children with us for the whole day to the point that some of the toddlers think that me and the other teachers are their real parents and cry when they have to go. Your career's in a great place already but…mine's just starting. Do you really think we can afford to have a child right now?"

"You know money shouldn't matter, right?" Eddie asked frustratedly.

"I know it shouldn't," Mara replied quickly. "But, don't you want to prepare so we don't end up like those kids I end up taking care of?"

Eddie wanted to fight—to say that they could manage—but deep inside, he knew Mara's fears were complacent. He wanted to be a father—a good father. And good fathers gave their children the best. His salary was more than enough to pay the bills for his apartment, buy the necessaries, and enough for some good things for himself and a gift for Mara every now and then. But he wanted to keep doing that, and he knew Mara needed time to start her career before they could even think about a family.

"Eddie?" She looked at him sadly. "I'm really sorry but…I just can't wake up one morning and think that I've become a parent I've always hated."

He hated his dad and _he _didn't want to end up like him. "Darling, it's alright. I understand you." He paused, thinking for a while. "But can we come to a compromise?"

"Like what?" She asked curiously.

Eddie placed a hand on hers which was on the railings, and affectionately rubbed the back of her hand with a finger. "I won't try to get you pregnant until you want," He offered. "I won't try to make accidents you do not want. Believe it or not, I _will _make an effort—I won't wear condoms though—I'm allergic to that latex stuff. But..if you do get pregnant, we aren't getting rid of it and we raise it no matter what our financial position is. Is that fine?"

"That's a good one," She smiled. "Okay, deal."

"Great, now…" Eddie wrapped his bride in a warm embrace, carrying her as her legs straddled him. He kissed her on the lips, trailing towards her neck. "Onward to consummating our love, darling."

He carried her back to the bedroom, placing her gently on the bed as he crawled on top of her.

He was sleeping, and it took him a while to realize he was sleeping back in his old room in his father's house. He trembled, knowing what would happen next, but he couldn't move nor scream for help.

The door opened, letting in a bright light from the hallway, but was quickly closed. But Eddie's eyes trailed to a burly shadow that was approaching.

"Are you sleeping, Eddie?" The figure asked, it's voice deep but high-pitched—almost effeminate. When Eddie couldn't respond, it laughed. "I thought so."

"My brother says you're almost a man now," The figure said, sitting at the edge of the bed just by Eddie's legs. Without a blanket, the man easily reached into Eddie's pants and grabbed his penis. "A very undisciplined man nonetheless—but I can fix that."

He began to stroke the shaft, but Eddie couldn't fight it by moving or by speaking. He managed to let out a pathetic squeak that sounded more like a dog whimpering, and Eddie felt the man's anger as he painfully squeezed. "Scream, and I'll make sure you'll never see the next morning boy."

Eddie panted, but kept his mouth shut. The figure loosened up, but continued. "That's a good boy." He said patronizingly. "Now, take of your clothes."

"Eddie!" He heard Mara's voice scream, and he found himself sitting up in their bed in their hotel room, sweating.

Mara was next to him, tears on her face and her hand on his shoulder from trying to wake him up. He was drowsy, and despite the air conditioning was covered in sweat.

"W-what—"

"You started screaming and crying in your sleep," She cried. "And then when you kept screaming I had to wake you up but you couldn't hear me and—"

Eddie pecked her on the cheek, trying to keep his breathing normal. "I'm fine now, darling."

"No you're not," She said sharply. "Are you still having nightmares about…you know…"

"Yes," He admitted. "When you've been molested for years, it kind of leaves nightmares."

Mara sighed, and Eddie kissed her once more and pulled her down as he lay back in bed so that she was snuggling with him. "I know this isn't what you signed up for," He began.

"I signed up for you." Mara said softly, her fingers trailing along his chest. "And if that means helping you get through a lot of horrible childhood memories, I'm ready to help you."

"Darling, I love you." He kissed her hair, taking in her scent. "I want you."

She looked up at him, smiling. "And I want you."

"How was your…first time?" He asked awkwardly. "Did I…hurt you?"

She couldn't help but laugh at his question.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

February 2008 –Eight Months Later

Eddie looked at the little pink bundle in his arms. His ears were still ringing from the screaming, but he found something close to inner peace as he traced a finger along the baby's face.

"I-i-is it a boy?" She said weakly.

Eddie turned to Mrs. Kennedy, feeling a pang of jealousy as he knew this baby wasn't his. "It's a girl ma'am?"

Mr. Kennedy reached for the baby and Eddie was forced to hand it over. "Our little Valentine's Day baby," Mr. Kennedy cooed, showing its face to its mother for the first time.

"We could name her Valentina," Eddie heard Mrs. Kennedy say weakly.

_How original, _Eddie thought. In his two-year career as a nurse, he had helped in the birthing of around twenty babies on the last two Valentine's Day, and at least five of the couples wanted to name their sons Valentine or daughters Valentina. Last year, Eddie was close to laughing at the couple's faces when Mr. and Mrs. Valentine wanted to name their son Cupid.

He knew his job was done, and the cleaning was usually left to the other nurses. He looked at the new family again, jealous of their new child.

"Another job well done, Eddie," He heard Dr. Hane's giggly voice behind him as she whispered on his ear a bit too close than he'd like.

"Thanks, Alice—er, you too," He moved towards the door and hurried out of it. It was common knowledge in St. Mary's that Dr. Alice Hanes was the office whore, and had set out to prey on every attractive staff in the hospital—including married ones like Eddie. He was one of the few who had resisted her advances—which made him only more of a bigger catch for tigresses like her.

"Hey," She called him as he tried to scurry away. He didn't want to seem mean, so he turned.

"Do you wanna go grab a drink after this?" She asked in a flirty voice. "It's been a while since I've been out…"

"Sorry, Alice," He wasn't sorry. "It's Valentine's Day. I've got plans for me and Mara."

"Right, the pre-school teacher," She said, immediately scowling at the sound of Mara's name. "Well, maybe next time then." Thankfully, she went the other way and rounded at the corner, and Eddie walked back to Mrs. Kennedy's room to sneak another look at the baby before he changed out of his scrubs.

Lately, every time he had assisted in a birthing operation, he couldn't help but feel jealous towards every new family. Throughout every birth, he imagined it was him and Mara who were the patients, but he imagined it doing it his own way. He wouldn't be the type of father who was disgusted with the miracle of childbirth; he would hold Mara's hand, letting her know that he was there while she suffered for the sake of their family. So many women screamed, and he knew Mara would too—he would be the type of husband who would make sure their wives knew he would share the pain from her if he could. They'd have beautiful children with beautiful faces and beautiful names not like bloody "Valentina" or something.

Eddie re-lived the fantasy of his future child's birth as he changed out of his work clothes and drove home. Unfortunately for him, St. Mary's didn't let him change his schedule even if it was Valentine's Day, so before he could even reach the freeway, he knew he would be home after nine in the evening.

He reached his home by a quarter past nine, cursing the traffic a few blocks away from his street. Wasting no time, He snatched the flowers and present he bought for her from the front seat and darted towards the stairs to the fourth floor. When he reached their apartment, he found a new doormat on the floor. It was a typical "There's no place like home" doormat, although he began to wonder what Mara was up to.

Eddie opened the door, realizing the apartment looked different…in a better way. Although the lights were off, scented candles were lit around the house. The walls, which were bare apart from a few photos of him and Mara, and some with her parents, were now decorated with random pictures with quotes on them. Eddie's favorite photo had always been the candid shot of them after the wedding as he kissed her hand like a gentleman, and it was still hanging, but this time was surrounded by smaller photos of them ever since they started dating.

"Eddie?" Mara came out the room to greet him, smiling. She looked stunning in a strapless red dress. "Happy Valentine's Day, you're gonna love what I have for a surprise."

He came to her, planting a kiss on her lips, handing her the bouquet of roses he picked up on the way. "When did you do all this?"

"This afternoon," She smiled, leading him to their kitchen. "Tommy got the flu and because he was so touchy with his classmates Quinn decided to dismiss the students early just in case—although I think she really just didn't want to spend Valentine's Day in school. After we left the school, Sophie took me to this really cute bazaar, and I figured I'd do this before you arrived."

Eddie looked at the small memories of their happy life together, framed to look like a collage. "I like this one the most," He said, pointing to a poster with the words "Love Makes a House a Home."

"It should be right under our wedding photo," He pouted. "Our love _does _make this apartment what I look forward to whenever I wake up, darling. Or maybe this other one—'Our Feet May Leave Our Home but Not Our Hearts'."

"Tough luck, you'll have to wait next year—I spent half the day planning this whole apartment out" She pouted back. She grimaced, and spoke the next words really carefully. "Expect that the rest of the bare walls to be filled with new pictures in a year or less."

"Of course—we have our forever, don't we?" Eddie took the stereo remote from the table and turned on the stereo, playing his favorite song. "Remember this?"

_When I was a boy my mother often said to me_

_Get married boy and see how happy you will be…_

"How could I forget?" She smiled. "But there's really something—"

"Dance with me darling, the mood is perfect!" He embraced her as he waltzed across the hallway between the kitchen and living room, savoring the moment.

"I have looked all over, but no girlie can I find," Eddie sang along. "Who seems to be just like the little girl I have in mind…"

"Eddie…" She said urgently, and he let her go to look at her face. "Expect our whole apartment to be filled with photos…only, they're probably not going to be of just the both of us."

It took a few seconds for Eddie to process what she meant, and when he did, his eyes lowered from Mara's face to her tummy, placing a soft hand over it. "Are you…Mara, darling…"

"I lied to you, darling," Mara smiled. "Quinn let me go early because I kept getting sick. I suspected it, and well…" From her pocket she pulled out a rectangular plastic Eddie knew too well. Mara showed him the two pink lines that meant the world to him.

"Oh—oh darling!" Eddie exclaimed. "But are you…ready for this?"

"I think we've waited long enough." Mara smiled. "I'm happy being here with you—but now I want to share that life with a child of our own. I've been teaching kids that aren't mine and you've been welcoming babies into this world that aren't even yours. I'm ready to have our own baby in this world and raise it as our own—since it is."

In the dim hallway, Eddie found Mara as beautiful as she was on their wedding day. "I love you, darling." He planted a long kiss on her lips.

"Now, about that dance," Mara grinned, and Eddie happily took her hands in his once more as they waltzed their perfect dance, ready to enter a new chapter of their life.

Little did Eddie know that this would be one of the last happy memories in his life.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nine Months Later

"I still don't get why I have to check in even before the twins are due," Mara muttered as Eddie handed back the form to the receptionist with a familiar smile, guiding his wife through the rooms in the maternity ward and stopping on their room. "Women have babies all the time—I don't think we have to worry this early. I don't feel anything, and I'm getting used to the kicking."

"Darling, we live really far from St. Mary's" Because he was a well-known employee, he managed to handle Mara and ask that he be the one to help her settle in so that they were alone. "And when they do start making their way out, I don't want to risk ending up taking you somewhere else other than the best place because we couldn't make it in time—here. I trust everyone in this hospital, and we are going to get through this together as safe as possible."

"Well, well," A feminine voice said by the door, and Eddie's smile dropped as he saw Alice looking at them with a tight smile. "I get to meet your wife for the first time, Eddie."

As if to send a clear message, Eddie placed a protective arm around his wife, pecking her on the forehead. "Darling, this is Dr. Hanes, the best pediatrician in the hospital."

"Hello, Mrs. Gluskin—do you mind if I call you Mara?" She asked sweetly. "I always make a habit of trying to be as close to my patients as I can. That looks like a nice and rather big tummy—are you having twins?"

Eddie knew this was an insult in disguise. Whether or not Mara knew this, he couldn't tell. She smiled and replied, "Yes, actually—twin boys."

"Oh," Alice said, surprised. " Well then—if you need anything, you're married to your nurse so he can get you anything. Eddie had Dr. Tanner's assistant forward your files to the hospital, and I'll go through your info just to check on any complications you might have. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work—a woman's work is never done, you know."

She smiled at both of them before heading out, closing the door behind her. As soon as they saw her shadow behind the curtained window pass, Mara let out a snort and laughed. "_A woman's work is never done,_" She imitated Alice's high-pitched voice. "Is this the _whore-doctor_ you've been talking about?"

"Unfortunately, yes," He continued settling in her bags in the cabinets. "But you mustn't feel jealous or anything—she's good at what she does, so I asked her to personally see to your birthing."

"Am I supposed to feel jealous?" She asked coolly.

Eddie snorted. He admitted it to himself that Alice was beautiful—but so was Mara, and beauty wasn't the only thing he fell for. Seeing them in the same room, it was as though their beauty was like a clash of the past and present. Mara was "Audrey Hepburn" beautiful, the classical type of pretty that didn't require her to show so much skin, and knew the borderline between dressing like an old woman and dressing up like a scarlet woman, while Alice was the modern type of beautiful, with dyed blonde hair, borderline short skirts and low-cut blouses under her white coat. He knew that, had he been given the choice, he would choose Mara over and over again. "Never. You know there's only one girl for me."

"But unfortunately for you, at this rate, I'll get to love more than one boy." She grinned hugging him as he continued to organize their belongings in the room.

"Only if they have blue eyes and brown hair like everyone says they will," He teased, kissing her and savoring the moment. "What a perfect family we'll be."

"Hey, can we talk?" Alice's head popped through the door, whispering loudly. Eddie had managed to get Mara in St. Mary's care by using employee perks after working for over two years, but he still had to attend his shift. It was just after eleven at night, and after his shift ended, he had gone to check on Mara, who was fast asleep on her bed. Out of routine, he placed a hand on her belly and felt a kick. He wondered which one did it, and if they knew it was their daddy they just kicked.

He nodded, noticing the urgency in her voice and lack of flirtation, but she had tried to get his attention that way many times in the past, making him wary. He motioned for her to come in, and she quietly entered.

"Was your wife a gymnast or something when she was twelve or something?" She asked sharply as she reached him. Eddie was surprised, nodding fast. Mara was the Daltons' only daughter, and were proud of every small accomplishment she had, devoting one wall in their home to showcase every trophy, medal, and certificate she earned. When they started dating, the Daltons let Eddie into their home to boast of Mara's achievements, and took pride in a whole shelf filled with gold trophies from her competitive gymnast days until high school.

"I've seen her trophies in her parents' house," Eddie admitted. "She was a gymnast ever since she was eight—"

"Did she do it as a summer thing or was she competitively practicing it?" She cut him off.

"Well, I'd say competitively, considering all the trophies," Eddie mused, and observed Alice's eyes grow big in the dark. "But her parents said she stopped around high school, when she was fifteen." He added quickly. "Said she wanted to be a teacher and she didn't want to be a gymnast as an adult."

He heard Alice whispering to herself, which sounded a lot like cursing, as she paced the room. It made him feel worried, but he did not want to open his mouth in fear of what she could say next. Alice was a flirt, but when it came to her job, she was always dead-serious.

"Okay, I'm just gonna say this in layman's terms," She said quietly but in a frustrated voice. "Mara can have kids but there's something odd about that uterus of hers—now that I know she's a gymnast, I get it.

"You see, I took the liberty of calling her childhood doctor since his number was on Dr. Tanner's file, and I found out that Mara was born pre-mature—and now that I think about it, we wouldn't have this problem if she stayed away from the balance beams. One of the effects of being born pre-mature is that you have a chance of having physical development problems growing up, and by the looks of her childhood info, her physical development is considered delayed—standing up after 24 months, walking after 36, menarche at fourteen, and so on.

"But add in the fact that she did _competitive _gymnastics before and during puberty—it would have been less worse if she just continued until she turned eighteen so her body could adapt—and she is practically willing her body to develop into a woman's body at a snail's pace. And while, externally, she looked like she was growing up right on track, I now have enough reason to believe that her reproductive system did not fix itself in the most convenient way—both for her and her child, let alone twins."

"So…we can't have children?" Eddie asked nervously.

"I said she can." Alice said impatiently. "But…I'm not gonna beat around the bush—the best case scenario is that Mara will experience a really painful childbirth, since her uterus is kind of small. Even under an epidural she might find it hard to breathe since the pressure of twins pushing through her will be a lot. But…compared to the average woman, Mara has a bigger chance of dying on the table—suffocation, blood-loss if the twins struggle to come out…"

She let the words drift, not wanting to continue. Eddie felt like the world was collapsing on him. "So…what do you suggest?"

Alice took a deep breath. "As a doctor, I can give you two options: risking it, or have an abortion."

"And as Dr. Alice Hanes?" Eddie said bitterly.

"As an honest _friend_," Alice said fiercely. "I'm saying that if you love your wife, you'll be smart to remember that there's only one of her, and many years for Mara to get herself fixed before she tries for a baby again now that we know the dangers of childbirth in her position."

Eddie understood the message clearly.

"We'll risk it," The two nearly jumped to see Mara's hardened face looking blankly in the dark.

"Mara…" Alice started. "We could give you an epidural, but if you agree, you need to know what you're getting yourself into."

"I know what I'm getting myself into," Mara said coldly. Eddie had never seen Mara this mad other than the time she found out about what his father and uncle had done to him.

Eddie approached Mara, hugging her as tears slowly crept to her eyes. "It's all right, my darling. I wouldn't even think of getting rid of our children. Go back to sleep—I'll continue talking to Dr. Hanes outside. I love you."

He kissed her once more before walking away, Mara looking at them as they exited. Alice looked sadly at her, before making her way outside to the hallway, just a few feet away from the room.

"Alice, you forgot to mention that Mara could get a C-Section," Eddie pointed out.

"C-Sections aren't covered in employee perks," Alice said sadly.

Eddie sighed in frustration, scratching his head. "Fine, then I'll check out to a hospital I can afford to let them operate on her."

"Don't you get it?" Alice yelled. "She'll still be in certain danger. I'm not trying to advertise the hospital's services, but if you try going to a public hospital or something, she's more fucked than she will be if she stays here."

"Keep your voice down!" Eddie gritted to his teeth. He inhaled, trying to get the anger out of him, before he continued. "Right—how much do I need to pay for a C-Section here?"

"Honestly—more than what you make." Alice said. "And you might be one of the best nurses here, but let's face it—Mara's due to give birth in less than four days and it'll be a week before you can get an answer on a company loan."

He and Mara had a savings account reserved for the twins' college fund, but he knew it wouldn't be enough at this point. At that moment, he realized there was one thing he could do out of desperation. He knew he wouldn't like it, and it was a slim chance that probably wouldn't work, but if it meant keeping Mara and his sons away from risking anything fatal, he would willingly do it.

"I'll get the money somehow," He muttered under his breath. "Just make sure she's fine."

His last hope for Mara's safety was to sell his maternal grandfather's watch, an expensive golden Rolex. It was tucked in a box in his bedroom.

It was in the bedroom in his father's house.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry about the slightly long wait for this chapter. I've been trying to think of the best way to write how Eddie tries to go back, and it's been so frustrating that I skipped to Chapter 9 and 10. I'll try posting the next three chapters as soon as possible and hopefully finish the story before May ends since school season is about to start in my country. **

Chapter 8

Eddie had such a crappy childhood that he never took the time to stare at what his house looked like from the outside. Back then, all he cared about was making sure his dad had no reason to beat him, and then ending up raped at the end of the day for no reason. Looking at the house after six years, he couldn't feel the dread he was expecting during the drive going to his father's house, but one look at it, and he knew he wouldn't enjoy coming back for it.

Across the street, the Dalton House brought better memories than his house did. As he stood just by the driveway gate, he remembered seeing Mara for the first time, balancing herself on their SUV just to reach her bike on the bike rack. He remembered the first conversation him and Mara had, laughing about her father after he practically tried to sell her to him. He remembered the first Saturday he had the guts to ask her out, and then the Saturday after that when they went to watch a movie and then went to Burger King afterwards to laugh at how bad the movie was. He remembered the week before he moved out of his father's house when class ended early and he snuck off with her to the hills to watch the sun go down, the whole time thinking in his head that if he could live over and over again, he wouldn't change the moments he spent with her.

But the Dalton house was now run-down, neglected by the Dalton's former landlord now that Mr. and Mrs. Dalton were in Washington, with the heat of California unbearable to Mr. Dalton's health. And he was there to make sure that he and Mara would continue this dream of his.

He opened the gate, making his way across the dry lawn, taking one last look at the Dalton house. He noticed that almost every house here was deserted, but tried clearing his head quickly for the task that was at hand. It was past ten in the evening, but knowing his dad, he'd probably still be awake. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

He had expected to see the cold, dumpy face of his father, so he was surprised to see that it wasn't him who opened the door. "Can I help you?" Said the girl.

"Umm, who are you?" Eddie asked. He looked back at the driveway to check if that was his father's car, which it was. "Is…is Edward Gluskin still living here?"

"Yes he does," She smiled invitingly. "I'm his caregiver." Eddie tried to hide his revulsion. She had extremely large breasts, blonde hair that sprouted black roots, a loud southern accent, and a tan that made her resemble a human Cheeto. _Did dad hire a caregiver from Brazzers or something?_

"Well, I'm his son," Eddie said curtly. "Can I speak to him?"

Eddie saw the recognition in her eyes. "Oh, you're Eddie?" She smiled even wider. "I've seen your pictures. Yes—come in, close the door behind you. I'm Pamela by the way—call me Pam. I'll go talk to Edward."

For a second, Eddie was about to frantically ask what pictures she meant, and then comforted himself that if she _were _a real caregiver, she'd have done something if she saw his father's "special" photos of him.

But as he entered, he saw that, despite him being practically disowned and his mother gone, the place did not look that different than the last time he was there. The photos of him and his parents still hung. He picked up one of the photos on the fireplace—it was him and his dad sitting on either side of his mother's bed during her birthday on the year Eddie left. He noticed that despite being younger than he was at the moment, the boy in the photo looked scared, and the creases on his face showed just how strained he was to make even a really small smile. He imagined having a photo like this with his own family—it would be a lot more genuinely happy than this. Christmas was six weeks away and he thought of having their first family photo—one with just the four of them and another one with the Daltons. He imagined himself, tall and heavy built, next to his slender, mid-height Mara, and if their friends' and family's predictions were right, would look adorable carrying brown-haired, light-blue-eyed babies.

"Ed says you've been gone for a long time," He turned to see her give a seductive smile. "You must be lonely after being gone for such a long time."

"Not really—didn't he tell you? I'm married." Eddie replied curtly. Pam's smile faltered a bit, but she smiled the same way Alice did when he tried to refuse her come-ons.

"Well then, I'll let you in on a little secret," She was practically kissing Eddie's ear. "I'm fucking your daddy. Do you mind?"

He could smell the alcohol on her breath, and the musk of something else he didn't want to guess. He shrugged. "Not really."

"Good." She smiled tightly. "So we're kinda doing things informal than what my company don't usually agree on—but he doesn't mind giving me a few things now and then so it's all good."

She lead him upstairs to his dad's bedroom, her hips swaying dramatically and her staggering a bit in high heels he didn't think a caregiver ought to be wearing. Eddie didn't really care to see his father, but he felt impolite to just dart into his room and get what he needed. Besides, his father knew he was here and didn't send him out. She pushed his bedroom door open, smiling, motioning him to enter.

"Eddie?" He heard his father's voice call out hoarsely. In the last three years since Eddie had moved out, he had had nightmares that he carried with him even until marriage, and it was only after Mara announced that he was going to be a father did Eddie stop having nightmares. Yet suddenly, three years of coping had dissolved into nothing as he froze on his spot.

_You're a married man now Eddie, _He frantically reminded himself. _You have a wife and two sons—you have no reason to be afraid._ He walked inside.

It was like he had been brought back to 2003, only the roles were switched. His father clung onto his bed like it could float into heaven (_or hell_, Eddie thought bitterly), and the bed that was always there was now replaced by a bigger one that could recline. He looked as though his muscle turned into fat, and looked like a dying toad.

"Ahh, Eddie," He smiled menacingly, coughing. Unlike Eddie's mother, he could still talk and shift his legs around the bed. "Come to see me after all these years?"

"I'm…just here to get something I left." Eddie had thought of lying, but decided against it, replying coldly. He realized he didn't care at all about his father. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Age and whiskey, boy. Age and whiskey." Mr. Gluskin wheezed. His lips curled into a smile as Pam approached him to hand him his medicine. He placed a greasy hand on her leg, creeping higher until it was up her skirt. She smiled innocently, leaning over to give him a great view of up her blouse. "And this hot piece of ass over here."

"Right," Eddie said quickly. "So I'll just get to my room and—"

"Woah there, Eddie." Mr. Gluskin wheezed. "You didn't get a chance to talk about my daughter-in-law…or my grandchildren."

Eddie stared. "How did you—?"

"When your in-laws live right next door," Mr. Gluskin said bitterly. "you might learn a thing or two about the son who walked out on you."

Eddie stared at him, unremorseful. "Is that all?"

"Not really," Mr. Gluskin smiled menacingly. "You-you put my no-good brother in jail. I'm almost dying—and mind you, I'm leaving the house to this broad—I'd like you to have a little…_token_…before you leave. It will always be my greatest memory of you. Pam?"

Pam stood up straight, smiling down on him. "Be a peach and open the safe. The password's 3001. Get the stack on the left."

Pam did as she was told and skipped to the safe inside Mr. Gluskin's desk cabinet. Eddie and Mr. Gluskin were locked in a fierce stare that it was only when Pam gasped did Eddie look at her.

"Now give it to my…_son_, babe." Mr. Gluskin said, leering. Pam flicked through the photographs with a poker face, handing it to Eddie with a lazy hand before joining Mr. Gluskin as he pulled and began to grope her on the bed.

"And this, boy," Mr. Gluskin said as he slipped a hand under his "care giver's" blouse. "is what you call dominance over your woman. If what you do won't be a bad thing to her and she doesn't feel compelled to run away—you know you've won her over. Now…when do I meet the grandkid?"

Eddie was filled with dread. The first photo was of his room, a lump under the blanket on his bed. The photos got closer and more gruesome. His father's hand was on his son's penis, while his uncle was holding down the boy. And then he couldn't see his face, but the photographer's penis was next to a little boy's anus, ready to be rammed. The pictures turned more violent and gruesome, Eddie's boyhood face a mixture of fear and pain and betrayal.

And that was just the first set of photos.

"Why?" Eddie said bitterly after flipping through the photos. "Planning on making another volume like this?"

"Maybe," Mr. Gluskin grinned, and then turned into a deadly snarl. "Now get what you want and then get the fuck out of my house."

Eddie fled the room, rushing to his room and slamming the door behind him. It was 2003 all over again. The boxes were still in the place he left them.

He placed the photos on top of his drawers, opening the first box. In it were a bunch of old text books and photocopies of chapters in his college days. In a hurry to leave three years ago, he had even packed torn notebook papers. He dug underneath them, but stopped, reading a part of the crumpled papers and realizing what they were.

He unwrapped the first one, remembering how he made this letter. During an extremely boring lesson, he had thought of asking Mara out for the first time by sending her a letter. The first letter was only one line, violently crossed out by his frustrated attempt to not sound like a creeper.

_Dear Mara,_

_I've been watching you throughout my window for a while now_

The next letter had been too suggestive.

_ Mara,_

_ I think I feel something between us, do you?_

And on his third try, he had decided to pour his heart out…until he realized that the professor was calling his attention.

_ Dearest Mara,_

_ I know you might think this is weird, but I like talking to you on the Saturdays I see you. I think you're really pretty and…_

He folded the papers, tucking it in his pocket, saving it for later. When he realized that it was filled with nothing but college material, he opened the next box. He heard the door open and close, turning to see Pam leaning on the door, smiling at him like a drunken prostitute. He ignored her, and continued to dig until he felt the familiar feeling he desperately tried to find. And then he found it. Pulling it out, he found the golden Rolex from his maternal great-grandfather. It wasn't a rare watch, but he knew it was genuine and could be pawned for enough money.

"Pretty," Pam whistled. "Although I don't think you'd risk your neck for a bit of gold—not with the career you've got that those neighbors told Ed."

Eddie looked at her. "I need it for something else."

"If you say so," She replied, taking one last flip at the photos with a questionable expression.

Eddie looked at her curiously. Partly because she was drunk and probably didn't know she was blocking the door, another because he now knew someone _knew _what his father was doing.

"Well?" He asked hopefully. She only raised an eyebrow, looking confused as to why he was still there. "What do you think?"

"How old were you in these photos?" She asked quietly.

"Nine," And for the first time, Pam looked more sober than when she opened the door. Eddie hoped he would at least comfort him, tell him that the company would hear about this.

Instead, she tossed the photos onto the bed, yawning.

"What the hell?" He asked angrily.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked, annoyed.

"How about call the cops?" Eddie said hotly. "You do realize your boyfriend—my father—is a rapist and a pedophile. How does that not mean anything?"

"I really couldn't give a flying fuck whether or not he forced himself on you as a boy," She sneered, leaning on him, placing her hands on his chest. He could smell the alcohol and the scent of his father's on her mouth. "Let alone giving a fuck for whether or not you wanted it. Do you really think I'd tell on him? And ruin what I've got goin' on here? Doll, I make moot with the salary I have. Without Ed, I live in a shoebox with two bitches I can't stand. Your daddy gives me a good life. I get this house, your momma's jewels, and everything once he dies—and all I gotta do is bounce on him a couple of times like a little boy at night, screaming 'Daddy' a bunch of times, and suddenly I make a year's worth of—"

Eddie couldn't remember what happened next. He remembered a painful blow on his right hand, but after that, he found Pam on the floor of his room, cradling a wound on her head as the blood blended with her dyed hair. He looked at the watch—it had a crack and it was smeared in blood, but it was still intact.

_Did I just hit her? _Eddie thought. He looked at her bewildered face, showing fear and rage at the same time. At that point, he realized that he didn't care. If she didn't give a damn about the fact that her boyfriend once raped his son, he shouldn't care about her possibly damaged skull—he cared about Mara, and holding the watch was enough reason for him to be gone. _Whores like this one here shame the entire female species. _He nodded curtly, heading out the door. "Learn your place, you ungrateful slut." He called as he reached the living room and out the door.

As soon as he exited the house, his phone began to ring. Twiddling the watch around his hand, he checked the caller ID to find Mara's name on the screen.

"Mara, my love?" Eddie said giddily. "How are you?"

"Eddie? It's Alice." He nearly dropped the phone in surprise. Alice sounded urgent and worried. "My phone's in my office."

"Where are you?" He asked, gripping the watch tightly, rubbing away some of the blood on it to no avail. He started walking to the gate. "Where's Mara? Is she okay?"

"Mara's going into labor," Alice said sharply. From the phone, he could hear her yelling at some nurses, ordering them to get Mara prepared. He heard her complain why she didn't get the nurses who she was used to before she talked to him. "Eddie, you might wanna get your ass here right now—remember what I told you about the odds of a regular birth a—_what the fuck do you think you're doing?_"

Eddie didn't feel sure about the nurses with his wife, and sprinted towards his car. He threw the watch to the other seat and slid the key into the ignition. Out of panic, Eddie kept turning up the engine too short and had to calm down for a second before he got a firm grip on the key. "What's going on? Talk to me Alice!"

He heard her barking more instructions before the sound a door slam shut and the background noise became quiet. "They've sent new nurses to take on this birth," Alice said, obviously irritated. "I could do this with Santos and Kipper—or you, for that matter, but it's your day-off so they didn't think about sending you to me—but with something as delicate as your wife's case…Christ."

"Get her on the operating table, Alice," Eddie pleaded as he sped off. "I can get her the C-Section now. I'll be there in about twenty minutes—if I'm not there and you have to do it, just do it already."

"W-what?" Alice asked incredulously. "Eddie—it's too late for a C-Section."

"Why the fuck not?" He yelled, losing his temper.

"I've been trying to call you for the last twenty minutes—you weren't responding, I had no authority, and Mara couldn't change the employee benefits because she was just your spouse, so I couldn't make the decision in time. I'm sorry."

Eddie was unsure of what to say. _She's suffering without me. _"Alice…what can I do now?"

"You? Nothing." She said flatly. "But Mara? I'm giving her an epidural. The pain won't kill her, but if she can't hold her breath, she might suffocate. There's also other chances, but they're all equally risky."

_In other words, Mara can die today. _"What are…um…Is it possible for Mara or…the twins to…"

"Not make it?" Alice suggested. "Honestly—yes. Mara can die from any problem at this point—and her data proves the chances to be higher than I'd like it to be—but the ultrasounds prove that your twins are healthy, and…well, if Mara won't make it…the twins could…but they're in just as much danger as their mother is."

He heard a scream from the background. "Is the door closed?"

Alice's voice was quiet. "Yes. Oh God, Eddie, I'm gonna go help Mara. Get over here—_now_."

Alice hung up. He looked at the watch on his side. It still had traces of Pam's blood and was staining the white seat cover. He went back to the past he hated just to retrieve it and met an unremorseful father and a whore whose job was to care for others yet didn't care that the man who she worked for openly raped his own son. He would probably face charges and spend some jail time if Pam or his father reported him, and he knew he would try blackmailing Pam into keeping quiet.

He had risked all that—and was too late.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

He didn't care about anything anymore—not even himself. What mattered now was getting to Mara in time. He knew he ran two red lights, nearly ran over a dozen people who jaywalked, and would be fined for drifting his car to the nearest entrance in the hospital, but he didn't care. He frantically ran towards Mara's ward, pushing the heavy metal doors open as he finally reached it.

It had taken him thirty minutes.

And he could hear Mara screaming.

He ran towards her voice, darting past the staff he was familiar with. Tears were forming in his eyes, hearing her pain yet not being close enough to comfort her. He reached the hallway, nearly slipping at the corner, fighting the urge to break down the door, his hands shaking at the knob.

Mara's eyes turned to him, but that was not what Eddie was looking at. He looked at how pale Mara's skin was, how bloody Alice was and how the blood had spread around the room.

"We're reaching Grade 3 hemorraging, Dr. Hanes," One of the nurses said urgently.

"I can see that," Alice snapped. "What I need is to stop it _now._"

"How do you stop it?" Eddie ran towards them. "What can I do?"

"None of us can do anything until these babies are out," She said angrily. "And the first one's just crowning."

Eddie peeked, used to the sight of it, but not the blood. He could see the round flesh that was his son's head, and froze. _That's my son._

"EDDIE," Alice yelled. "Remember what I said a while ago?"

Eddie nodded, afraid to speak.

"I'm sorry but please stay with your wife for a while," She said firmly, trying to force the child out. "She's smart—she knows…and she instructed me to put the twins' life first."

"Why is she bleeding?" Eddie held back the tears. He looked at Mara, who was screaming despite looking quite dizzy from the drugs.

"I…miscalculated—_take a deep breath, Mara_." She said, stretching Mara further. "Having healthy—_big_, healthy twins for that matter—could make her suffocate, but it could also mean that, well…they're tearing her apart to get out."

Eddie gasped. Even with an epidural, he guessed that Mara was in so much pain. He felt Alice's bloody glove on top of his hand, gripping him and pulling her forward, her bloody face in front of his. "_Go to her_, Eddie." She said through gritted teeth. She had never had a fatality, and she was determined not to lose anyone unless it could be helped. "The chances are getting slim for her every minute this baby's still jammed in the uterus."

Eddie turned to Mara, who was gasping for air. He could see through the mirror that his eyes were red, tears streaming down his face. He felt helpless, and that made him hate himself. He did the only thing he could do, and stood beside Mara and reached for her hand, grasping it.

"You're going to make it, darling," Eddie whispered, leaning to kiss her. "Close your eyes and think of our children. I'm sorry I can't lighten your suffering, my love."

Mara bit her lip to keep screaming. And then he heard Alice grunt and the sound of something sliding as Mara finally bit her lip bloody and screamed. She began convulsing.

"Mrs. Gluskin!" Alice screamed. "There's—"

"FUCKING DO IT ALREADY," Mara screamed. Alice turned to one heavy nurse, who nodded before she pinned Mara's abdomen down. Mara was still convulsing, but her lower abdomen was pinned. Eddie was crying now, trying to whisper soothing words into her ear to no avail.

And as fast as it started, she stopped twitching. That only made it worse for Eddie, knowing what would most likely come next. Mara's hand stopped trying to crush his grasp, but she held on gently.

Mara breathed heavily, turning to smile weakly at him, though through the tears in his eyes, Eddie could see that it pained her to smile. She tugged at his sleeve, motioning him to lean forward, and he was quick to do so.

"I love you Eddie," She whispered hoarsely. "Take c-care of the twins p-p-please."

He heart Alice grunt as she did something to heave the baby out, and Mara gasped in pain once more. "No my darling," He said, desperately crying. "You. Are. Going. To. Get. Through. This."

_Unless there is a god, Mara can't be dying today_, Eddie thought to himself. He was raped by his father and uncle, practically abandoned by his mother, and now he was about to lose the only girl he could ever love.

_It's not fair. _He had helped save countless lives—only for some god to take away the only one that mattered. He was supposed to push her wheelchair out the hospital the day after. They were supposed to welcome their children into their apartment. They were supposed to re-decorate the apartment. He was done playing the unlucky guy, and he would be damned if he lost her.

_She's only twenty-four, for God's sake. She doesn't deserve to die so early. _Mara smiled, and laughed at his denial with a croaky voice that it almost sounded like she was choking. Eddie kissed her between each word. He held her hand tightly as if it were his life that was at stake, but to him, it kind of was. Mara had always been bright and active and was the reason he could genuinely smile and have the will to live another day. She had always been so lively that Eddie had always felt that he was continuously running just to catch up with her, but she had always been there all the same. Looking at her now, pale and bloody and weak, he could not hold back the sobs as he held her hand tighter, trying to keep the life inside her from fleeing.

At that point, he understood what Alice meant: _you'll be smart to remember that there's only one of her_. At that point, Eddie knew what he wanted. He wanted children, he wanted a family, but he also wanted a _complete_ family, to raise a legacy with the woman he loved. He bitterly wished he could go back in time—he would do everything the same way except change his actions yesterday and convince Mara to abort the twins. But he knew that holding on to her and dreaming of what-ifs was pointless, and stayed with her for what was their last time together.

"I've always l-loved you, Eddie," She said tearfully, her voice getting weaker that Eddie had to lean closer so their lips were barely touching. "And I'll always love our ch-children…please t-tell them that."

"I will," He promised through his sobs. "I'll tell our children—our family—Mara, I promise. Oh my god—I love you, darling."

She gave his hand a very light squeeze. "We could have been…beautiful."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Eddie let go of Mara's hand, fighting the urge to continue crying. Mara had always been warm and alive that he felt as though she immediately turned cold when she stopped breathing. Her light tan had suddenly disappeared as well, as though the pigment on her skin drained along with the blood. Alice and the other nurses were still desperately trying to pull the twins out, and paid him no attention.

He remembered the first and only birthing casualty he witnessed. The father—he couldn't remember the man's name—did not stand beside his wife, but filmed the actions of Eddie and other nurses assisting Dr. Clyde as he pulled the baby out. And then the wife—some anti-drug woman who refused an epidural—began screaming louder and more frantic than she originally was. Eddie couldn't remember what had gone wrong, but once the blood began pouring out not as bad as it did with Mara, Eddie's first instinct was to lead the man out, but the man had already ran out in fear, thinking the doctors would solve it if they were alone and they could concentrate. The woman died, but the child lived, and Eddie wondered if the man hated himself for choosing to run moments before his wife died.

Eddie did not choose to run, and watched his wife die in front of him. He wondered if he would have felt better if he had ran like the patient's husband too, but told himself that he would just feel worse and Mara would never have said goodbye. The two nurses didn't even ask him to leave. He felt like screaming at them for breaking protocol, but he knew he'd refuse to be kicked out had they tried.

He leaned and kissed his wife's corpse for the last time before closing her eyelids shut. He hated to think of the fact that he would have to tell his dear in-laws the news.

"Eddie…" Alice finally looked up and looked at him with grief. "I'm so, so sorry…"

Eddie fought back the tears. _I'm not a husband anymore, but I _am _a father. I need to be strong for my little boys. _He would never forget Mara but she would have wanted him to be strong for their sons. They were his reason for living now, and he needed to be ready to welcome them. "W-where are…where are my sons?"

Instead of reaching for either of the two bundles, Alice just stood there, looking at him sadly. "Eddie…I'm sorry."

The nurses were looking at him guiltily now, standing up. The two wrapped babies were still on the table, and then Eddie wondered why the nurses weren't carrying either. For a second, he felt annoyed—he had personally asked the best pediatrician in the hospital to take care of Mara, but he ended up with the most incompetent new nurses the hospital hired. Why weren't they supporting the twins' heads and carrying it? Shouldn't they be cleaning the blood? When he had dealt with Mara's funeral and went back to work, he would make sure the hospital knew about these nurses, who acted as though his twins were…

For a second, his whole world stopped.

"No…they're not…" Eddie said quietly, the tears fighting its back. "No. They're supposed to be crying or something...not unless they're…" He couldn't even finish it, not daring to say the last word in case it came true.

Alice did it for him. "Stillborn."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"What the fuck…" Eddie muttered under his breath.

"Eddie, I'm so sorry but Mara's system—" Alice cried.

"—did you mean by—" He walked slowly towards her.

"—I told you to consider the abortion—"

"STILLBORN?" Eddie boomed furiously. Out of anger, his right arm swung, striking Dr. Alice Hanes in the face with the back of his hand, knocking her to the ground. A resounding crack made the nurses squeal. There wasn't enough space for them to reach the door, and had huddled in the corner.

Alice was on the floor, a big, red, bleeding gash appearing on the side of her cheek.

"Eddie," She cried, nursing her wound. "Mara couldn't make it…I tried to tell you that she had a small chance of making it out alive…I _told _you…"

"You _told _me that if Mara couldn't make it, the twins would," He glowered, trying not to kick her. "They didn't. And neither did Mara."

Eddie was angry—angry at Alice, angry at the nurses, he didn't know. But he knew—he just knew—that Mara could have lived. He looked at Alice, and all of a sudden, it came like a snap to his head, he remembered everything.

And then the realized it: Mara _could _have lived. He looked down at Alice, heavily breathing to contain himself.

"You killed her." He said in a quietly deadly voice. "And you did it on purpose."

"Eddie please," She cried. "I didn't plan this—"

"How many times did you try throwing yourself at me?" He yelled. "How many times have you scowled every time I chose to be faithful to my wife instead of going out with you?"

Alice got up on her feet. "I didn't hate Mara, Eddie." She said fearfully. "I talked to her while you were gone and we became friends—"

"She'd never be friends with a whore like you." Eddie growled, slapping her on the face once more. The nurses were cowering on a corner, beginning to cry—Eddie didn't care.

"You hated her," Eddie growled. "You hated how I loved her and paid no attention to your attempts. Did you really think killing her and taking my wife and children out of the picture would make me love you?"

"I didn't—"

"I'm surprised you didn't end up in the theatre—because you were one fucking hell of an actress. You were shit trying to tease Mara when she got here, but that acting of yours when you pulled me aside to tell me what was wrong with her and how sad you looked—fucking Oscar-worthy, Alice." Eddie said sarcastically, tears streaming back down. "You know, I don't even think there was anything wrong with my wife."

"There was!" She was angry now. "Nobody bothered to look at her childhood records and—"

"Oh don't give me that bullshit, you whore." Eddie sneered. "I see it now—you botched it on purpose…yeah. Tried to kill my children before I got here, did ya'?"

"She didn't!" Eddie turned to look at the nurse in pink scrubs, she was in tears. "Mr. Gluskin, Dr. Hanes didn't—"

"Shut up!" He yelled at her, turning back to Alice. "I just wanted a happy family. A wife, a couple of children, and the devil sent a harlot in a doctor's coat to fuck that up for me just to sate her own desires. Just to show me _this_—"

He shoved a hand down Alice's blouse, ripping it off to expose her large breasts squeezed into a small black bra. She screamed, looking at the insanity in Eddie's eyes. She thought he was just stressed and angry over his wife and children's deaths, but now she could see the delirious anger in his eyes, and she was truly scared.

Eddie turned to look at the bed, gazing at the bottom part where all the blood was along with the surgical tools and the corpses of his twin sons. Alice held her breath as she watched him walk to the end, stroking the face of one of the infants, his lips curled into a faint smile. _He's fucking lost it, _Alice thought.

She let out a sob, immediately regretting it as he turned back to her with glowering eyes. She couldn't contain herself as she saw him grasp a scalpel.

"Let me show you what a fucking C-Section looks like," He smiled widely, approaching her as he cornered her and the nurses.

He wrung his hand around her neck. Alice saw him looking at the scalpel one last time before she coughed and choked as his hand was crushing her windpipe, and felt a stab of pain through her abdomen…and then nothing.

Outside, Janitor Atkins passed by the room, listening to the screams of a woman inside. _Poor girl_, He thought, pushing his cleaning tools on a cart. _Birthing them babies can be a pain._

Peter Hopkins entered the pediatric ward, careful not to make any noise as he pushed the doors open. He knew Mara was in the hospital about to give birth using Ed's employee privileges, but because of his work schedule and problems at home, Peter couldn't find time to see his best friend's wife—and possibly, their two baby boys, his own god children.

He made his way to the room number Eddie said Mara was in. To make sure, Peter looked at the name tag on the door, and when he saw "Gluskin, Marianna", he nodded in approval. It was nearly midnight and the window was blocked, but Eddie could see the light inside and knew that someone was awake. He knocked quietly, entered…

…and froze.

"Oh hello Peter," Eddie smiled serenely. "Has your shift just ended? Have you come to see my sons?"

Peter nearly did a double take, looking at his friend smiling despite all the blood, gore, and dead bodies on the floor. He had never screamed as loud as he had, calling security on the man who used to be his closest friend. He collapsed on the floor, taking in the sight of Dr. Alice Hane's body—her throat slit, her face black and blue, and her abdomen gutted all the way out—next to the three nurses whose necks were twisted grotesquely. One of the nurses' scrubs was ripped, and stabbed many times by a small object which Peter guessed was a scalpel. Peter couldn't stop screaming.

"Shut up, Pete," Eddie snapped. "Eddie Jr. just stopped crying. And Mara's resting from the birthing, you know—oh damn, she's awake, thanks a lot. Well, she _is_ excited to be a mother, I suppose…"

Peter took one good look to know that Mara was not resting. Eternally resting, yes, but not a rest that screaming would ever wake her. Her eyes were staring blankly into nothing, her skin pale as the part of the bed that weren't soaked in her blood. He could see a staple wire on the side of Mara's lip, giving her a weird half-smile. Her arms were contorted to hold a bundle wrapped in a blue towel. Peter tried pulling himself up against the door frame, and puked when he saw the babies wrapped inside the two blue bundles Mara's corpse and Eddie were cradling.

They were covered in blood, as if to match half the room the St. Mary's staff lay dead. One's head was blue-ish and looked like it was half-liquid, while the other one was soaked in blood, its lips were contorted into a black 'O'.

"That's not very nice," Eddie said, offended. "Puking at the sight of your god-children. They're only babies. We wouldn't have asked you to be their god-father if we knew you hated children."

"Eddie…" Peter trembled but managed to find his voice, knowing Eddie lost it. _But how? _

Before he could continue, the security came running. They had paused, dead quiet trying to take in the image of Eddie Gluskin in a room with dead staff, his dead wife, and his two dead sons. Unlike Peter, they did not falter, and tackled Eddie to the bed.

Eddie was caught off-balance that his hand slipped, dropping his son to the ground. The baby's soft head smashed, a bomb of deformed skin, blood, and bones. Peter vomited again.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTERS," He screamed. "YOU MADE ME DROP MY SON."

Eddie was muscular enough to put up a fight, but one of the guards was bigger and pinned him down long enough for the other to call for medical security and the police. The next group of security came in shocked to see the horrid sight, but handed the syringe quickly.

"YOU MONSTERS," Eddie screamed. "IF MY SON IS HARMED IN ANY WAY, YOU CAN JUST...JUST…."

The guard has injected Eddie under his forearm. They had released Eddie as soon as the drugs began to kick in, allowing him to move. Eddie frantically reached for the bed, holding his wife's arm, but for the first time, she didn't place her hand on his.

"Darling…" He said drowsily. "My darling…"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

They were fraternal twins. The older one was exactly what everyone said their children would look like, with his light blue eyes and Mara's dark brown hair, and had the smile of a toddler that would make anyone melt. The younger child, however, was a carbon copy of his father, and had jet black hair and blue eyes, and although he was just as adorable as his older brother, he was clumsier and was still getting the hang of learning how to walk.

Reading the newspaper, Eddie heard a crash and knew it was the younger one's fault even without looking up. "Ethan, Evan, which one of you did it this time?"

"My fault," The younger one, Evan, whimpered. Eddie lowered the paper and found him standing next to the shards of the flower vase that once was on the coffee table. "Oops."

Eddie could see a tear welling up his two-year old's eyes, and beckoned him to hobble to his dad. He scooped him up and placed his son on his lap, hugging him tightly. "It's alright, son—you're more important than some vase."

"I heard the crash." Mara's voice echoed from the kitchen, making Eddie jump. "That better not be the vase grandma gave us."

Eddie knew this was a dream. He knew Mara was dead—and then remembered that his sons died with her. But oddly, he did not wake up. _Could that have just been a dream? _He could not be sure.

"Then you're not gonna like this next bit, darling." Eddie laughed lightly. He heard Mara groan, and saw Ethan laughing by his toy box.

He saw Mara enter the living room, her face and body posture not hiding her frustration. Evan hopped off his father's lap, unintentionally kicking Eddie in the crotch with his toddler shoes. Eddie stifled a scream and placed a pillow on his lap, and watched Evan clumsily run up to Mara, repetitively screaming "Sorry mommy" over and over.

Mara sighed, hugging her child in forgiveness. "It's alright. Just try to be more careful when you play." Evan hugged her back before trotting back to the toy box next to his brother.

"Maybe we can put another picture frame on the table." Eddie suggested casually.

"Don't go there," Mara playfully punched him on the arm as he kissed her in a loving embrace. She felt cold, but Eddie was too absorbed in the dream to realize that something was wrong. "Our living room is turning into an album already."

Mara gave him a loving smile as she went back to the kictchen. Eddie looked around the room. True enough, the walls had been re-decorated once more. This time, the photos weren't only him and Mara and an occasional appearance of Mara's parents and all their friends. They were mostly photos of them and their children in special moments of their lives. The paintings with quotes were still there, but their wedding photo, which was at the center of the biggest wall, was now just in a wall near the door next to other frames taken before they had children. In the center now was the photo Eddie had always wanted—the four of them sitting on the couch like a normal family.

"Eddie, children, breakfast's ready!" Mara called. Ethan and Evan got up and sprinted to the kitchen, leaving Eddie behind. Eddie chuckled, and followed after them.

As he crossed the hallway between the kitchen and living room, he began to feel that something wasn't right. It got colder, which was weird, since Mara always kept the windows in the kitchen opened in the morning. He entered the kitchen, noticing how white it was and that the windows weren't closed. He had expected to find the twins sitting on either side of the table, but they weren't there either. He looked around, but they weren't even in the kitchen. Mara's back was turned to him, sitting in the seat facing the window, which shone an eerily white light.

"Mara darling?" Eddie asked nervously. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and felt her skin grow colder and watched it grow paler. Her soft skin was unusually stiff. He turned so that he could face her, and found nothing but cold dead eyes staring back.

Mara's corpse slumped to the side, falling off the chair. Eddie screamed.

Afraid of dreaming again, Eddie fought hard to stay awake, but something was keeping him from being alert. He recognized the room as a hospital room in St. Mary's, but he wondered why there were two security guards standing by the door.

He realized that him being here could only mean one thing: he knew what was reality and what was just a dream. _Mara's dead. Oh god—she's dead. Her, the twins—I've lost everyone._ Oddly enough, he wondered why he couldn't feel any pain—neither physical or emotional—but instead just felt sleepy that he dozed off again.

_No, stay awake. Stay. Awake._

When he opened his eyes again, the guards were gone, but he saw two figures standing by the other end of his bed. One was obviously a doctor, wearing a white coat. The other one, however, looked like a businessman, wearing a sharp suit.

"…any family?" The businessman asked. Eddie was too drowsy to hear them clearly.

"Mrs. Gluskin has family…Washington…just got word…daughter's death…"

_Focus. _Eddie tried looking to his sides. His hands were cuffed to either side of the bed, and there was a needle and tubing connected to his arm.

"And this one's father?"

"Here's the address."

_No, _Eddie thought. _I don't have a father—stay awake._

He closed his eyes, and then felt a hand shaking him. He woke up. Suddenly it was morning and the man was wearing a different suit, nodding at a man in scrubs who injected something into Eddie. The man in the suit had dark hair styled in a typical way done by Wall Street trendsetters, and looked quite handsome.

"Mr. Gluskin, please stay awake." The man said in a formal voice.

"Mara…" Eddie said stupidly.

"No sir," The man corrected. "I work for the HR of St. Mary's. I'm very sorry for your tragic loss."

"Mara…" Eddie groaned, tears welling in his eyes. In his semi-drowsy state, he remembered the happiest moment with her, and began to croak. "_When I was a boy my mother often said_—"

"I'm sorry?" He asked, pulling up a chair so he could lean in closer by sitting. "What was that?"

"Mara and I…we got married, you see…" Eddie smiled weakly.

"Yes, I know that," The man sighed. Eddie could see him shaking his leg.

"Why are you—why…"

"Why am I here?" The man smiled, and Eddie nodded dumbly. "It's because there is a silver lining I think you ought to know. Could you pay attention? The shot should start kicking in by now."

Eddie nodded, determined to focus.

"After your wife died and your little—well—breakdown," The man began, speaking as though he had rehearsed this a couple of times already. "the hospital got worried and needed to find your relatives in case…well, the morgue's pretty full, you see.

"Anyway, they found your wife's parents pretty easily, and they were quite devastated with the news. But we had trouble looking for your parents. We searched records and saw that your mother was dead, but it took us a while to find your father's house. When one of our employees went to visit him, he stumbled upon some incriminating evidence against your father."

Eddie remembered where Pam left the photos, tossed on his bed. The man leaned in closer. "Mr. Gluskin, please answer honestly—did your father rape you as a child?"

Eddie nodded. "And the other man in the photo?"

"My _dear _Uncle Willard." Eddie said tensely.

For a split second, The man's lips curled into a smile before he sat back straight and coughed. "We detained your father and his caregiver—a certain Pamela Davies. We charged your father with pedophilia and rape on a minor, and his caregiver for trying to hide the evidence.

"I know it won't bring your wife and children back, Mr. Gluskin. But I promise you, you will find justice for your troubles."

Another medic whose face was covered by a mask entered to inject another syringe filled with yellow liquid into Eddie. The man was right—Eddie would rather hear a report that Mara and the twins came back to life and are well and healthy than to hear that his father had been executed in the worst way possible. Eddie fought the urge to sob, but it looked like the man had more to say.

"Now all you have to do is…well," The man scratched his head awkwardly. "Is pick up the pieces. I can't say it will be easy, nor will it take a short while—but St. Mary's is here to help."

He handed Eddie a few sheets of paper stapled together and a pen. "You might not be able to read yet—let alone five pages of clauses—but I'll cut to the chase. Sign it, and St. Mary's will handle the funeral arrangements for your wife and child. We need your authorization to release the corps—bodies—to the funeral services provider."

Eddie began to feel sleepy once more, but urged himself to focus as he flipped the last page to the front and signed his name and signature. The man snatched the paper and pen out of his hands, nodding slowly in approval.

"Oh, and one more thing," The man asked Eddie, his concerned face gone. "Do you remember what happened in your wife's room before you passed out? For…insurance purposes."

Eddie recalled, but it was a haze. "Mara died. Dr. Hanes tried to comfort me—Peter did too when he saw me breaking down…and then I got so sad, I passed out. Dr. Hanes…she told me Mara wasn't going to survive but we pushed on—she worked so hard to save Mara when I told her to…"

"Now did they?" Eddie was glad to see the man smile at his friends' concern for him, but the smile looked more mocking and patronizing than sincere. He couldn't be too sure. "Well, I'll be off now, Mr. Gluskin."

"Okay…Thank you…what's your name?" Eddie asked weakly, dozing off into sleep. He passed out before the man could even stand up.

"My name is Jeremy Blaire, Mr. Gluskin." He smirked, standing up. He flipped to the last page of the file, making sure the name and signature was intact. "And thank you for choosing Murkoff's Mount Massive Asylum."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Eddie woke up to a resounding slap in the face. He was no longer on the soft bed in a cold room, but in a dim, humid room with only a small rectangular window and a dim, hanging light bulb allowing a little light. His bed creaked, and was quite thin that he could feel the metal bars under it. It smelled of sweat and a little bit of blood.

"Hey, are you dumb?" Eddie yelled in pain as he was slapped in the face again. "Wake up, buddy!"

Eddie squinted to look at the figure that slapped him. It was a man with a bald top, but had a mixture of black and gray hair growing on the sides of his head. He wore round glasses and had thin lips that curled into a sneer. Underneath his lab coat, he wore a white dress shirt with red stains that Eddie hoped wasn't blood, and looked like a preppy college graduate that went to country clubs and had martini lunches.

"Who are you?" Eddie asked as he struggled to get up, his head and abdomen throbbing in pain. "Where am I?"

"Call me Dr. Trager, buddy. Don't forget it—you'll be screaming it soon." Dr. Trager laughed at his own joke, although it didn't sound like a joke to Eddie. "And as for your location, I'm not allowed to say—oh fuck it, it's not like you're getting out of here anyway—you're in Mount Massive Asylum."

"Mount Massive…" Eddie had heard that name before. Mrs. Dalton lived in Colorado growing up, and Mara mentioned that Mrs. Dalton went camping near Mount Massive when she was young. _But what did he mean by "getting out"?_

"Mount Massive Asylum," Dr. Trager said proudly. "Re-opened by the one and only Murkoff Corporation."

_Murkoff…_He had heard that name before.

"Asylum?" Eddie was suddenly wide awake. "Why am _I_ in—"

"Let's see now," Dr. Trager looked through a file with a patronizing look. "You gave a confession five days ago, and after going under psychiatric evaluation under one of our psychiatrists, you were declared insane, and you agreed to skip a trial and be sent here."

Eddie couldn't remember any of that. "I don't…why am I on trial?"

"Why—it's all here in your file, boy." He tapped on the folder. He cleared his throat. "_I, Edward Gluskin, twenty-six, male, residing in Los Angeles, California, make a full confession under the sound eye of Dr. Carl Huston. After going through psychiatric evaluation, I realize the medical effects of concealing a traumatizing past. I admit to being raped by my father multiple times throughout my childhood as the evidence shows, but telling no one about it and continuing to live with him until I turned twenty. I admit to witnessing the death of my wife and our unborn children. The pain and loss of these two events, according to the doctors, are believed to be the reason of my PTSD, leading to the murder of my colleague and doctor responsible for my wife's birthing, Dr. Alice Hanes, along with nurses Thalia Morgan, Dana Oliver, and Iris Lafferty." _

"Wait, what?" Eddie asked incredulously.

"_I do not wish to be a burden any longer," _Dr. Trager continued. "_and hereby commit myself to Mount Massive Asylum, since there is enough evidence to assume my insanity, and be treated by Dr. Huston and other staff psychiatrists of the said asylum—_Isn't that nice?"

Eddie believed it was a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. _I didn't kill Dr. Alice. I didn't kill anyone. _"There must be some mistake," He stood up.

"SIT BACK DOWN!" Eddie didn't notice the guard whose uniform blended in with the walls, pointing his strange-looking gun at him.

"Now, now, sir," Dr. Trager said calmly. "I don't think Mr. Gluskin here—do you mind if I call you Eddie—will be a danger. Not if he wants to live, of course. You can guard from the outside."

The guard looked at Dr. Trager worriedly, and then back at Eddie before heading out.

"I didn't write that, doc!" Eddie screamed. "I swear, I didn't kill anybody."

"But that is your signature, is it not?" Dr. Trager asked politely. "A curvy 'E' and then some squiggles that look like a star or something?"

"That sounds like it," Eddie pressed on. "But the last thing I signed was a…a…"

"That's the sad part about business, kid," The door opened and Eddie recognized the familiar face. "When you don't read things you sign."

"You…" Eddie stammered.

"Me," The man said smugly. "You probably didn't hear me the first time—Jeremy Blaire, Murkoff Corporation."

Eddie knew he had been trapped. He had never felt this scared ever since he was raped for the first time. He could most definitely subdue this Blaire guy, who was lean and probably could fight back in a suit, but the doctor looked dangerous, and so was that gun in the guard's hands. The man smiled smugly at the doctor and continued. "It's done. We've sent the _confession _a day ago, and just now I got off the phone, telling them how poor Edward Gluskin turned his clothes into a noose and hung himself last night out of guilt. Congratulations, Mr. Gluskin, you are now officially dead to the world!"

_This is a nightmare,_ He tried telling himself more and more, believing it less and less.

"I can't be dead," Eddie said desperately.

"No, but if the government ever looks at our list of patients, which I hardly think they would ever do," Blaire scoffed. "they'll be looking for twenty-six-year old Edward Gluskin, not forty-six-year old Eddie Gluskin—you'd be surprised how you can get overlooked just by that mistake. You can pull off acting forty-six, can 'ya?"

"But then again, they won't go snooping unless you let them, right Jer?" Dr. Trager said casually.

"Nope," Blaire grinned.

Eddie was now scared. "What…what happens to me?"

Blaire looked at him like a lion stalking its prey. "You see, Eddie, here in the asylum, Murkoff has this…_project…_and it requires someone who has faced enough horrors. We have a few patients here, but no one has faced anything horrific as yours: raped by your uncle and father, abused by your father until your twenties, watched your wife bleed herself to death—I saw what the twins looked like, by the way, that should count as a horror to—and then the fact that you could murder four women and forget about them just _screams _trauma…possibly enough trauma to make this project successful."

"We're going to see how far the human mind can go, Gluskin. We need you." Dr. Trager said dramatically.

"How…how are you…" Eddie started, but couldn't finish the sentence. He had cried so much over Mara that he couldn't find it in him to cry at himself anymore.

"Shhh…you leave that to us, Eddie." Dr. Trager stood up. "For now, the project's still in it's…well, improving stages—and we don't want to waste that little terror-filled head of yours unless it's ready—until _you're _ready. Hey Jer, I gotta meeting with Wernicke in a few—mind if I head out?"

"Sure, sure," Blaire replied as Dr. Trager walked out. "See 'ya around."

Blaire turned to Eddie. "As Dr. Trager was saying, we'll have use for you once we're ready. For now, think of it as a _very _long standby."

He nodded curtly, turning on his heel and heading out the door. Eddie started breathing heavily, hyperventilating. "How long?"

Blaire passed the door before turning to Eddie, his hand on the door knob and his lips curling to an evil smile. "Why four—maybe five—years. Enjoy, Mr. Gluskin."

Jeremy Blaire slammed the door, muffling the screams of Eddie before he could run out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

2014 – Five Years Later

Dr. Garett Snow sighed, allowing himself one more minute before letting Eddie Gluskin in. Among all the patients he had met in his five years of working in Mount Massive Asylum, none of the patients were as bad as him—except for Billy Hope, but he had been placed under the exclusive careful watch of Dr. Wernicke. Ever since the hive underground had been successful and Hope and Gluskin had begun to progress in their lucid dreaming, they had been working Gluskin to the bone after keeping him in the dark for the first three years he was here.

"All right, send him in." Dr. Snow spoke through the intercom. After a few seconds, two guards dragged him in. It had been two years ever since they started sending Gluskin through the engine, and it was Dr. Snow's job to keep track of how Eddie was doing. In the process, Eddie had lost so many scalps that his black hair only grew on top of his head, his eyes were hollowed, and traces of bad rashes lingered along his face. They pushed him down on a chair, chaining him to it.

"I see your rashes have began to recede since the last time we spoke." Dr. Snow began.

"Oh—oh yes—yes." Gluskin smiled weakly, but forced himself to grin. "They've stopped using latex tubing just as I've asked. I've also been learning how to control my dreams. I-I remember now—that doctor is dead…those nurses too!"

Dr. Snow sighed. The fact that Gluskin could smile while saying that was a big sign he was lying. A part of him felt sorry, thinking that Gluskin believed successfully advancing to the Morphogenic Engine would release him or something. _After everything he's seen, he'll never leave._ Dr. Snow considered himself lucky to have a lawyer for a wife who taught him about loopholes that were technically truths—Gluskin had admitted that he remembered the dead bodies of the staff he murdered in the hospital, but he never claimed a hand at it."We'll get back to that in a while."

Gluskin nodded excitedly, and Dr. Snow continued. "Now, after almost two years of the engine, can you finally recall everything—or at least, most of the images you see?"

Gluskin's smile faded. "It always starts with something different, but the fact that it makes me feel happy stays the same. First, I just see moving images, like blobs moving around a screen that sting my eyes. And then I see a good dream…"

"What are the good dreams you remember?" Dr. Snow pushed on.

"Well…there's this girl you see," Gluskin blushed. "I'd be different things with her—happy things. I can tell she loves me, and the feeling I get give me reason to believe that…that I love this girl."

"What's her name? What does she look like? What do you do with her?"

"Well, she never really speaks so I don't think I know her name, but I can hear her calling me sometimes in the dream. She's beautiful, doc—her hair and eyes are brown, taller than normal girls, but a few inches shorter than me…"

"And the things you do?"

"I remember…beautiful weddings." Gluskin sighed, smiling at the memory of his dreams. "Lying in bed with her, making sweet love, or sometimes just sitting next to her, holding her hand—sometimes, we're posting photos of each other on a white wall in a room I can't recall. That's the good part."

"Good." Said Dr. Snow. Dr. Snow knew the woman was Marianna Gluskin, Gluskin's late wife who died giving birth to their twin sons. He had read the police report on Gluskin, and knew that the room was probably the apartment he used to own. He took note that Gluskin finally lingered long enough in that good state to remember what he didn't know was his past life, and wrote that they have that initial good dream phase removed. "Next?"

Gluskin's face darkened. "And then I dreamt of…my father came into my room. My father—and Uncle Willard carrying a camera. He put a handkerchief on my face, and I smelled something funny. The next thing I know, father was thrusting his manhood into my behind and Uncle Willard's in my mouth and…"

Dr. Snow noticed Gluskin becoming more agitated, and looked at the guards to make sure they were alert. "How would you describe it?"

"Vulgar." Gluskin spat. "And then these four sluts were murdering that poor girl and her babies—those babies were mine, aren't they?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Dr. Snow lied. "What else?"

"They just kept killing her," Gluskin said gravely. "And then the next thing I know—they were all on the floor—dead."

"You killed them?"

"I didn't kill them," He growled. "They're not _really _dead, you see. To be dead, they need to lose their souls…whores of Satan don't have souls, you see."

Dr. Snow wrote on as Eddie babbled. _…refuses to discuss his victims…he would not admit that they were dead or mutilated…_

"And then it started mixing up." Eddie continued. "Suddenly that brown-haired girl was the one father and Uncle Willard were forcing themselves on—it was kind of like a fast-paced mixtures, you see. And then I was the one those girls were murdering. And then…"

Dr. Snow was quick to write every gruesome dream Eddie had—he would just re-write the case later. The dreams got more gruesome as Eddie went on—ending with his wife's corpse raped by everyone.

"It's like—it _hurts _me to see that girl get hurt," Gluskin sniffed. "And then after that, it ended with the same dream—I keep forgetting it because…well, it's in here, in the asylum, and I keep forgetting what that dream was because…well, it was so simple."

It was a breakthrough Dr. Snow needed. When he didn't say anything, Gluskin continued. "I was on my bed in my room…and then the girl opened it. Doc, just curious—am I married to this girl or something?"

"Uhh…I don't know Eddie, I'm just here to examine your dreams and progress," Dr. Snow said innocently.

"Well, I knew I had to run after her, so we ran around the asylum. Every time I get closer, I hear a song playing…"

"Do you know the song name?"

"No, but I can remember a few lines…_When I was a boy my mother often said to me…Get married boy and see how happy you will be… I have looked all over, but no girlie can I find…Who seems to be just like the little girl I have in mind…_"

Dr. Snow took note of that. He had heard the song many times—they loved playing that song in one of the radio stations here in Colorado. He wondered how Gluskin had heard that song—the asylum had disrupted all radio signals and the music tapes in the abandoned storage room were locked in the dilapidated building next to the men's ward.

"But every time I try to keep looking, she disappears." He said sadly. "And when I fall and stop running, she stops…turns around…and then…she smiles at me. She smiles doc—as though to taunt me—and then she hides inside a room. I-I think she's somewhere in the building, doc—this girl."

Dr. Snow sighed—it was enough progress for now. He tucked the rape photos and the St. Mary's staff photos back in the folder. "Well—that's enough for today. I'll see you again after your next visit to the engine."

"What?" Gluskin's smile faltered as he heard the last words. "I've progressed. I-I can hear the Walrider just by closing my eyes—I told you that before. I don't need projects anymore, Dr. Snow. Please! PLEASE!"

A guard injected the frantically wiggling Gluskin, and after a few seconds, he slumped to the floor.

Eddie sobbed the moment they threw him into his room. They didn't believe him, did they? If only he could prove to them what his dreams were. He punched the wall, ignoring the pain after. It had been two years since he truly felt pain…it was mixed with the anger of knowing what got him there in the first place.

_Women were evil. _He had thought right after the engine turned off._ His mother had abandoned him—falling down the stairs of their house to become catatonic so she couldn't protect him or comfort him or do anything about his father. That doctor and those nurses killed that girl and her babies. My father's whore couldn't care. And that girl—she was beautiful, and she knew it. That bitch knows she's got me wrapped around her finger, and taunts me—hiding in places I will never find her. Women would abandon, not care about anything at all but themselves. They were all just dirty sluts who could use what was between their legs to lure innocent men like me. A man could be vulgar, but they had done everything to win women. Women weren't perfect—women needed to be tamed before they could be anything close to perfection._

_And I'm obsessively in love with one of them._

_And she's hiding somewhere here—somewhere in the asylum—just to spite me._

_But she is the only one I know who is even worthy to have my seed._

**Author's Note: The next chapter will be the ending chapter. I'm really sorry, but my college starts in two days, and I'm scared that, like all the other stories I've written and kept in my laptop, I'll become unmotivated to continue and might leave it hanging and abandoned. I'd like to stretch on—and actually, the story was supposed to include Eddie's first approach with the engine so that that last paragraph can be understandable— but I need to wrap this up by May 21 so I cut right away to this part. **


	15. Chapter 15

Final Chapter

The images just stopped. Naturally, the dreams would get more intense and more unbearable for him before it cooled down long enough for him to concentrate on his thoughts. But this time, he dreamt the pain as his father thrust inside him while his uncle suffocated him with his penis jammed in his mouth, and then it just ended.

He heard something resembled a hollow scream. It sounded like something you'd hear if a crowd had screamed miles away, but it sounded too loud for it to have come from the outside. And then he heard screams, men shouting and saying the Walrider had escaped. He couldn't understand what that meant. He heard the sound of something ripping apart along with splashes and louder, prominent screams of people.

Eddie opened his eyes, which stung from the fluids. He could see a faint black shadow surrounding a man being ripped to pieces, but other than that, he couldn't see what was in the shadow.

But he could see that it was getting closer to him. It was practically next to his bubble. He saw the silhouette of a man menacingly looking at him as he smashed the bubble's hinge open. Eddie closed his eyes, prepared to have the same fate as the owner of the abdomen a few feet from the bubble, but when he opened his eyes, the shadow passed him and went out the door, killing two men in lab coats before he exited a bigger door out.

Eddie's right hand could move now that the glass was smashed. He removed the tubes, smashed the other side with some difficulty, and crawled out. He had no idea what he was going to do. He thought about leaving, but he was wary about the shadow, and didn't want to risk it.

He heard a groan by the door, and he approached it slowly. It was a large man in uniform, clutching a bloody arm stabbed by large shards of glass that was once the glass door. It was the guard who had manhandled the other man Eddie begged before he was forced into the bubble a few hours ago. Eddie's head throbbed, and suddenly it wasn't a guy, it was a girl. And oddly enough, he felt like he knew her his whole life.

He knew the girl writhing in pain on the ground—he had seen her in his dreams over and over again. Sometimes, they were cuddling in bed, or having a romantic dinner, or making love in an apartment he didn't recognize. There were also dreams when she was the one his father and uncle raped, and sometimes she was raped by her own fellow females. He also had dreams of her walking around the asylum, letting him know that she was just hiding in plain sight. It was hard not to forget her brown hair and light brown eyes and pretty face—especially if she haunted both the regular bad dreams and the rare good dreams the engine allowed just to torture him.

He knew that she knew him, but he was slightly embarrassed to admit that he didn't even know this girl's name.

"Hello there," He said happily. "I remember you from a dream, I guess what they say is possible—dreams do come true."

"What the fuck, man? Get away from me!" Eddie's smile faltered as the girl disappeared and in her place was a heavyset man in a police uniform with a deep, male voice. Eddie felt a sting in his step, and found a sharp shard of glass by his foot. He picked it up and looked angrily at the man.

"Swearing is not very lady-like, my dear," He said menacingly raising the shard so it glinted against the light of the few remaining computers that were still on. "I should be in the presence of a lady, not a filthy slut."

"P-p-please…" He croaked. "D-d-on't…"

A thought came in Eddie's mind. When the girl smiled at him, Eddie knew it wasn't just a regular, loving smile because girls couldn't love because they were all vicious whores out to sate their own desires. It meant something. He remembered how she just loved to run from him and then seduce him with false hope as he was about to give up. He realized how she_ was_ hiding. She was disguising herself as something vulgar just to slip away under his nose. She wanted him to find her—that was the game she wanted to play. She could have been the shadow for all he knew—something menacing to scare him away, letting him fail in finding her.

Eddie knew she was meant to be found: unwrapped from her vulgar disguise until she was the perfect, honest woman he loved, unwrapped once more from her innocence, and then—Eddie's favorite part—savored.

"Darling, there's no need to hide." Eddie Gluskin smiled, laughing, the rashes on his face stinging. He pulled him up, tossing him onto one of the tables in the room. From where the crotch was, Eddie could see a slight bulge—the disguise of the guard was so fat that his manhood's shape could be seen. _I'll need to remove that vulgar shaft if she is to have my seed._ "We must re-live our dreams together here—let's be happy together again, starting with a wedding. Will you be my bride?"


	16. ALTERNATE ENDING and Author's Message

**Author's Note: I am a sucker for happy endings, which is why I was kind of disappointed with the ending even if I wrote it. Originally, I planned two endings: the one in the last chapter that ended with Eddie the misogynist monster, and the second one in this chapter, Eddie returning to somewhat his normal self. I was torn between the two, so I promised myself that by the time I wrote Mara's death, I should already have decided the outcome. I was planning for **_**this **_**to be the final chapter—and even extend it to how he became the feared groom of Mount Massive—but due to time constraints, I cannot extend it and I really don't want to leave it unfinished before my college term starts, because I might forget about it altogether.**

**Anyway, thank you so much for reading my very first (completed) novel and my very first attempt at fan fiction! :-) So far, I might continue on the novel I was working on before I became hooked with Outlast and Outlast: Whistleblower, but because it's not a fan fiction, I might be uploading it on Booksie or something. Thank you for all the support and the good ratings I've been getting. Even if it's not much compared to others, I'm really happy that it went well for the first time, and the reviews and stats are so overwhelming for me, since I've always been too shy to upload. Thank you!**

**UPDATE: Eddie's Past is now on Wattpad! Includes minor grammar edits.**

Epilogue – Alternate Ending

"We could have been beautiful." He muttered. In one hand, he held her hand, disguised to look like a regular man. In the other, he held the rope with just enough strength that they were at the same level. He had hoped this last sign of his love for her would move her to take the disguise off herself. But the disguise wouldn't come off, and realizing that the girl did not love him at all to show herself, let go of the rope.

The pain on his body hurt just as much as it did when they forced him into the engine, but as he watched her fall to the ground, videoed him, wrote something on a notebook, and then walked away, Eddie could have sworn that the pain was coming from his heart. His breathing was choked, and he knew that he would die soon. For some reason, he didn't care.

He looked around the room where all the girl's disguises hung. At one point, he thought showing the girl all the disguises she used were pointless in hopes that she stopped hiding. Some were attracting flies and dropping maggots, but some were still fresh with dripping blood. At times, she put up a fight before he could slice off her vulgar disguise. Other times, she didn't even try to want him, and out of anger he had tried ending it the worst way possible so she could learn her place. And on the rare occasion, she gave in to his advances, but was too weak to survive the pain all women needed to go through. But he loved her so much, and she kept coming back over and over that he couldn't help but run after her.

He closed his eyes as the pain got worse and as the taste of blood filled his mouth.

"Eddie?" He opened his eyes. He was no longer in the dark room, but in a well-lit bedroom lying on top of a comfy bed. He was no longer wearing the costume he found in the asylum's basement, and was bare-chested, feeling the cool breeze.

A hand slid across his chest as he felt someone snuggling with him. It was the brown-haired girl—she was paler than he remembered, but she wore a white nightgown and practically glowed in the room. She cuddled on top of him. Their eyes locked, and two things happened at the same time. First, Eddie couldn't feel anything anymore. Waking up, he had felt the painful sting on his abdomen, but looking at the girl, the pain seemed to disappear. At the same time, she smiled, and suddenly Eddie's memories of her flooded through his head.

He remembered who she was.

"…Mara…" He whispered. It didn't hurt anymore. She pressed her body closer to his.

"Hello there, beautiful," Eddie grinned. "My name's Eddie—Eddie Gluskin."

Mara laughed. "Mara Gluskin. Although, I think I've met you before somewhere."

Eddie chuckled. He took her in a loving embrace as he kissed her. She smelled like the cherry blossom scent she always used. He was surprised to remember even the smallest details about her.

"We can't stay in bed too long, darling." She said as she kissed him back before she got up and out of bed. "The children are waiting."

"The twins?" He smiled hopefully. "Where are they?"

"Outside." She pointed at the only door in the room. As she pointed to it, the door opened, leading not to the living room he knew, but to a white light that lead to the unknown. Eddie had an idea where it would lead, but he knew that, no matter where he went, he was now happy.

"Forever and ever, my love?" He cooed. She pulled him out of bed.

"We have an eternity, darling." She replied, holding his hand as she guided him to the light.


End file.
